My involvement with the program stems from having held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair for four months during 2011 at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). My activities included guiding the research of 15 or so very able doctoral students who have now entered the professional world in Austria and other European countries and who have bright futures ahead of them.

In addition, I traveled to Germany, Italy, and Portugal to give lectures to university audiences as a Fulbright program representative. Finally, my participation in the Austrian program has resulted in an ongoing relationship with the WU that involves my teaching an intensive course there each October. I believe that all of these activities have supported at least a modicum of good will towards the United States that may prove helpful in a world where power is becoming more diffuse and where the United States needs supportive friends.

In terms of my personal development as a U.S. law professor, the Austrian experience has been invaluable. I believe that the breadth that it has added to my knowledge and the relationships that I have developed with European academics has made me a more effective contributor at my home university.

It's worth noting that all of this came at comparatively little cost to the United States. My travel and stipend were predominantly funded by the Austrian side, by my home university, and by European universities.

Joseph Clifton Fleming Jr. is a professor at the Brigham Young University Law School and was at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) as a US Fulbright Scholar in 2010–11.