Published: June 13, 2008 11:33 pm         

Former Hautean wins cash prize for essay

TERRE HAUTE — A former Hautean walked away from Paris, France, an international author with a cash prize of 10,000 euros.

Rumu Sarkar, 47, Washington, D.C., has been awarded first prize by the St. Cyr Foundation for her essay, “A Fearful Symmetry: A New Global Balance of Power?”

The St. Cyr Foundation is a 15-entity group of international businesses and the French Ministry of Defense.

Sarkar unanimously beat out 12 other finalists based on her ideal of a new soldier.

“I’ve defined the new soldier as somebody who is able to win the trust of terrorists, meaning somebody who can exhibit qualities of compassion, empathy and cultural understanding,” Sarkar said.

Her essay will be translated into French and published as a 40-page book, and issued as a separate monograph to the French Ministry of Defense and possibly NATO, she said.

It focuses on global terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, and differences between these and previous enemies, as well as solutions for peace.

Soldiers are needed at first, she said, but afterwards civilians such as sociologists should be employed as well.

The American soldier should “think about winning the peace in different terms,” she said.

A 1977 graduate of Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Sarkar is a senior legal adviser to CALIBRE Systems, a Virginia-based defense firm. She is the daughter of Drs. Anil and Dipa Sarkar.

She also is a researcher and adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Despite this, much couldn’t have been done without her Terre Haute beginnings, she said.

“… I was really fortunate coming from Terre Haute … I think this is the real America and the heartland, it really has heart,” Sarkar said.



Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.