REQUEST TO DOUBLE AMERICAN CORNERS IN TAJIKISTAN

UNCLAS DUSHANBE 000276

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, R, P, EUR, DRL, S/P
NSC FOR MERKEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO KISL KDEM PREL TI
SUBJECT: REQUEST TO DOUBLE AMERICAN CORNERS IN TAJIKISTAN



1. This is an action request. See para six below.


2. The Ambassador's February 7 visit to the American Corner in
Khujand, where he met with FLEX alumni and was warmly welcomed
by provincial and city education officials, reaffirms the
enormous value of American Corners in Tajikistan - and the
government's receptive attitude toward them.


3. Public diplomacy is the sine qua non for advancing U.S.
interests in the pivotal country of Tajikistan, a front-line
state in the Secretary's initiative to rebuild historic links
between Central and South Asia and to effect transformational
diplomacy in challenging parts of the world.


4. We suggest five reasons to double the number of American
Corners in Tajikistan:

-- BOOST TO U.S. POLICY: These small centers aggressively
support key regional policy priorities: promoting democratic
processes and mutual understanding. The Ambassador led a
February 7 roundtable discussion with 20 students at the
American Corner at the Central Library in Khujand, where
students asked pressing and pointed questions about free speech,
the current cartoon controversy, and racism in the United
States. Participants demonstrated a strong knowledge and
curiosity about different ways of approaching religion, ethnic
differences and democracy. These open and enquiring students
are the next generation of Tajikistan's leaders.

--REASONABLE COST: American Corners are enormously
cost-effective. An American Corner costs approximately $50,000
to set up and $10,000 per year to run. In return, thousands of
Tajik students and citizens get access to books, DVDs, movies,
news and, perhaps most important, Internet. They also provide a
read-made venue for American-citizen programming. Our message
is made available in an open environment where it is, so far,
warmly welcome and widely appreciated.

-- IMPROVED ACCESS: Most Tajiks cannot yet afford private
access to the Internet or satellite television. American
Corners provide Tajiks the chance to see something other than
the largely anti-U.S. Russian media. Even the posters on the
walls in the Khujand American Corner reinforced messages of
democracy, free trade, tolerance, and diversity that are the
cornerstones of U.S. values and the central message of our
public diplomacy. Access is a two-way street -- our access to
every-day Tajiks also grows. At the Ambassador's recent program
at the Khujand American Corner, the Public Affairs Section got
20 new requests to be included on Embassy press release mailings.

-- HIGH VISIBILITY FOR THE UNTIED STATES: American Corners
provide an attractive physical space and forum for discussion
that does not exist elsewhere in Tajikistan. They are a safe
place to explore ideas and topics that are not always popular
with the old schools of thought. Students told the Ambassador
how much they appreciated the facility. It demonstrates the
best of American intentions at a time when our relationship with
the Muslim world is frequently misunderstood.

-- AMERICAN CORNERS WORK: The volume and enthusiasm of visitors
speaks to their effectiveness. While traveling, EmbOffs
frequently are asked to bring American Corners to various small
cities and universities. If imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery, the fact the UK Embassy just opened a "British room"
at a local educational institute demonstrated how effective a
tool the American Corners have been.


5. Within the current $2.7 trillion budget proposal, the
several hundred thousand dollars - a proverbial drop in the
bucket - it would cost to double the number of American Corners
in a receptive Tajikistan would be a miniscule investment with
potentially huge pay-off. Given the funds, we could quickly and
effectively establish American Corners in Khorog, Kurgon-Tyube,
Garm, Konibodom, Turson-Zoda, and a host of other Tajik cities
where our American footprint would be welcome.


6. ACTION REQUEST: To support the Secretary's vision of
transformational diplomacy, especially in a moderate Muslim
country whose sovereignty is increasingly threatened by a
resurgent Russian neo-colonial nationalism, we request funds to
establish a minimum of six new American Corners.

HOAGLAND