The University of Maine’s new School of Policy and International Affairs, to be unveiled on Jan. 24, will give new structure and definition to an academic area of critical importance to Maine’s future. International business has a significant impact on Maine’s economy, evidenced by the fact that our state ranks eighth in percentage of workers employed by foreign companies.

For Maine to thrive in a competitive global economy in which national borders will have even less relevance than today, our leaders will need the ability to address issues at the intersection of policy, international affairs and business in a way that will help us capitalize on the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls. Those leaders will need to understand the implications of change in U.S. policy and how key issues such as economic policy, environmental policy and trade policy affect Maine’s role in global business and international affairs.

This new school brings together the many UMaine faculty members who already teach and do research on policy. This group represents a vast wellspring of knowledge and experience in areas ranging from business to government to the environment. By combining this expertise, we will develop new ways to efficiently and effectively analyze important issues and develop useful solutions. SPIA will also help to enhance UMaine’s national prominence while increasing external funding for research and interdisciplinary teaching.

Our students will benefit directly from opportunities to participate in highly relevant research while studying with professors who are at the forefront of policy development and international concerns. This will be particularly true in areas in which UMaine already has great expertise, such as international environmental policy, international relations and homeland security studies.

SPIA will also enhance the opportunities for UMaine students and faculty members to participate in policy development and research on the international level, further enhancing the university’s tangible impact on Maine’s economic, social and cultural future.

Our faculty members will have more opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from partner institutions around the world, encouraging the development of more innovative solutions to global problems that affect our state.

The new UMaine school incorporates our William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce, which will fully realize its potential to affect research activities and provide opportunities for our students. Former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, for whom the UMaine center is named, has been actively engaged in helping us find ways for the Cohen Center to build on its strengths and take a central role in important international activities.

In March, UMaine and the Cohen Center will join the National Defense University to host an international conference on nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. We are pleased and proud to have a significant role in such an important forum, and we believe that it signals a new prominence for the Cohen Center in the worldwide study of critical international issues.

SPIA will also complement the activities of UMaine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, which has played a unique, long-term role in statewide policy development, and the Sen. George Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, which plays a leading role in the environmental policy arena. UMaine is fortunate to have centers named for three of the most prominent citizens our state has ever produced, and we are convinced that SPIA will benefit from those centers’ historical contributions and from being associated with Bill Cohen, Margaret Chase Smith and George Mitchell.

At UMaine, we are focused on our traditional role of creating and disseminating new knowledge in a way that is most beneficial to our students and the state we serve. In a quickly changing world in which information technology has transformed our ability to access information, we must find specific ways to maximize our resources and remain flexible enough to meet emerging challenges.

SPIA fits this model well, creating a “think-tank” that will help individuals and communities understand their most critical problems and develop effective policy solutions that will have lasting benefits for our state and its citizens.

Robert A. Kennedy is president of the University of Maine.