According to the passage, what has made America’s system of higher education a great success?

The decentralization, diversity, academic freedom and shared governance that have evolved over the past two centuries have made America’s system of higher education one of the most accessible and democratic in the world. Today educators from around the globe are turning to U.S. institutions of higher learning for inspiration.

At the Earth Summit in Johannesburg over a year ago, Israel and Jordan agreed to look into building a "Red-Dead" pipeline that would run 320 km along their rugged desert border. Dubbed the "Peace Conduit", the canal would be the biggest Israel-Jordanian joint venture since their 1994 peace treaty. Israeli officials cite the importance of cooperation with former Arab enemies as one of the main reasons they favor the Red-Dead canal over an older "Med-Dead" proposal to take water from the Mediterranean Sea, which would not involve Jordan.