As a career military officer, I am no stranger to meetings and conferences in Washington, D.C. On March 6 and 7, I had the pleasure of traveling to the capital as a private citizen to learn more about an important issue, nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. It was, without a doubt, one of the most informative and enlightening such meetings I have ever experienced, and I am certain that the other 150 or so people in attendance feel the same way.

As an interested observer of world affairs, I was pleased to listen as academic and government service experts provided informed insights and generated high-level discussion that will help inform decision-makers in the United States and other parts of the world. As a Mainer, I was exceedingly proud that the University of Maine’s William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce was front and center, joining the National Defense University to develop and sponsor the conference, which was held at NDU’s facility in Washington.

As UMaine’s Cohen Center approaches its 10th anniversary, its national profile is growing, as evidenced by its role in the conference. The Cohen Center name was on the lips of every presenter, including ambassadors, academics and policy experts from some of the most prestigious and important institutions examining the complex world in which we live.

Under President Bob Kennedy’s leadership, the university has recently established a School of Policy and International Affairs, with the Cohen Center as a key component. The new school will provide opportunities for UMaine faculty members, many of whom are among the leading experts in their fields, to teach about policy and international studies, and to conduct the related research, in ways that will greatly benefit UMaine’s students and our state.

To me, the most exciting part of these new ventures is the opportunities they create for UMaine’s students. Four current students, all of whom are working this semester in Capitol Hill internship program, had the opportunity to attend the conference. As I watched them listen with rapt attention, I realized that those four young Maine people were having an educational experience that would be impossible to match anywhere else.

Opportunities like that exist only because there is widespread recognition that the University of Maine and the Cohen Center represent world-class academic quality.

Conference organizers from UMaine and NDU tell me that they are already discussing a follow-up conference on this same subject, to be held at UMaine sometime in 2008, hopefully during a time frame when significant numbers of students can participate. There are also some initial discussions under way about developing structures allowing UMaine students to participate in other academic opportunities, perhaps through internships, at NDU. For students who are interested in these areas of study, access to those programs can be invaluable.

More than 20 experts spoke at the conference. To me, none was more impressive than UMaine professor Bahman Baktiari, who provided expert comment on the psychological underpinnings of the decision-making processes in Iran’s government. We all know that UMaine has some of the best hockey players in the country. We should also be proud that it has some of the top experts, like professor Baktiari and many of his colleagues, in critical areas of academic study.

I was enticed to attend this conference in large part because of my 35-year friendship with Bangor’s own Bill Cohen, who presented a thought-provoking keynote address to start the conference. Bill Cohen has always represented our state and our region with great dignity and intelligence and he has achieved at the highest possible level in everything he has done, from basketball to literature to public service. More than once, he expressed his thanks to UMaine for its role in the conference and for its efforts relative to the Cohen Center. While that is entirely appropriate, it is the university and its students who derive the greatest benefit from the strong relationship that continues to grow between this great citizen and this great university.

Clearly, the University of Maine is ready and able to help our state meet the challenges of the 21st century, and Maine will benefit greatly from this leadership in the international arena.

Retired USAF Maj. Gen. Nelson Durgin served as Maine’s adjutant general from 1991 to 1995. He is currently executive director of the Phillips-Strickland House Corp.