Exchange programs are the long game of investing in the best and brightest of a country

Alexei Navalny first came to America, to Dallas, in 2005, hosted by Open World, a Congressional Office for International Leadership exchange program for emerging world leaders. 

Even then, in his late 20s, the passion and courage and conviction and charisma and inspiration that would later define Alexei Navalny to the world and ultimately doom him in his homeland were already evident. Although the contours of his life’s work had not yet emerged fully, there was no doubt that he would leave an indelible mark. 

One of Navalny’s first stops was Sachse, a community then of 10,000 on the outskirts of Dallas. He rode horseback at his host’s farm and lingered over potluck barbecue with the neighbors. 

Over a week in Dallas, he visited city hall and talked to city councilors about their work. He learned about the United Way and the Girl Scouts and bought gifts for his family in Russia. He visited Dealey Plaza and pondered the assassination of President Kennedy. 

He asked and was asked a lot of questions. We cannot know exactly how his experience influenced his later course, but it clearly did, as he in turn influenced the lives of those who were fortunate to have experienced him then and later.  

Navalny returned to Russia, and then famously returned again to an at-best-uncertain fate after the Russian government’s attempt on his life in 2020. Last month, 19 years after his Open World exchange and everything that was sensed in him then had fully manifested, he was killed by that government in his beloved country. 

We join our colleagues and so many others around our country and world in mourning the loss of this life and light in the darkness into which Russia under Vladimir Putin has fallen. Our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to his widow, Yuliya Navalnaya, and to all those Russians arrested for the simple act of celebrating his life and whose lives have been and will be similarly cut short for their own passion and courage. 

“The most important thing we can do for Alexei,” said Yuliya Navalnaya, “is to keep fighting.” 

Navalny never lived a life of calm and comfort, never won a national election, never saw his life’s work through. But none of that is the point of his story. As his countrymen mourn him, openly and silently, as good people continue to be persecuted and killed in Russia and elsewhere, his widow’s words challenge us all to continue on in whatever ways we can. 

For our part, one way we can contribute is by continuing to elevate the worldwide leaders that we need today and will need in a generation to survive and prosper in an increasingly difficult, interconnected, interdependent world. Our country bears this responsibility if we want that world to embrace the values that we believe have been and are the path forward for humankind. 

It has been a quarter century since Open World first invested in the nascent leaders of tomorrow. Our alumni are charting their own courses in today 25 countries around our world in various stages of progress through their life paths, and no doubt there are other Navalnys among them. 

 Exchange programs such as Congress’ are clearly the long game of investing in the best and brightest of a country. They are an indispensable part of the legacy of Alexei Navalny and of our commitment to the values for which he lived and died.  

Don Bacon represents the 2nd District of Nebraska and is Trustee for the Congressional Office for International Leadership. Ed Case represents Hawaii’s 1st District and is a member the House Committee on Appropriations.