AMERICAN-IRANIAN UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000414 SIPDIS SIPDIS ECA/PE/V/R/N (ABED-KOTOB) NEA/PPD DUBAI FOR RAMIN ASGARD E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: OEXC SCUL IR UK SUBJECT: AMERICAN-IRANIAN UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP ¶1. SUMMARY: A recent UK-based Iranian participant in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP),Ali Pedram, has developed a proposal for an "American-Iranian University Partnership." It calls for expanding U.S. university partnerships with Middle East institutions to include Iran. The goal is to first increase academic collaboration and exchanges, then eventually to develop a university-based, non-governmental institution to help identify potential exchange participants in Iran and foster exchanges. The proposal stems from his IVLP participation, and particularly from meetings with the Center for Middle East Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. Post encourages NEA and ECA to meet with Pedram and Northeastern officials during a March/April Pedram visit to the University to explore opportunities for cooperation on Iran outreach. END SUMMARY. ¶2. Mr. Ali Pedram participated in the special IVLP for Iranians "Teaching Area Studies" held November 15 - December 2, 2006. Pedram is an Iranian citizen currently in the United Kingdom completing his Ph.D. on Iranian Politics and the Democratization Process at the University of Durham. He is concurrently an Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle. ¶3. At his IVLP debriefing session, Pedram presented a proposal for establishing an "American-Iranian University Partnership." It was inspired by meetings with staff of the Center for Middle East Studies at Northeastern University in Boston during his IVLP visit. Mr. Pedram was impressed with Northeastern's Dialogue of Civilizations project (http://www.iaf.neu.edu/dialogue_of_civilizat ions),through which he said the University had experience partnering with other academic institutions in the Middle East. Northeastern was looking at including Iran in this program, but needed help connecting with the right Iranian universities and developing relationships. ¶4. Pedram's proposal envisions him securing a visiting scholar position with a U.S. university to work on developing the American-Iranian University Partnership. This project would have three phases: a. Phase One - The U.S. university would select one or two Iranian universities with which to conduct video conferences, exchange academic papers, exchange speakers on academic topics and conduct seminars. Existing programs that U.S. universities run with partner institutions abroad, such as the Northeastern University Dialogue of Civilizations, would serve as the foundation. Mr. Pedram feels that adding Iran into such existing programs would "prevent suspicious attitudes" on the initiative and pave the way for Iranian acceptance. b. Phase Two - Signing of a memorandum of agreement between the U.S. university and selected academic and cultural institutions in Iran to provide for two-way student and faculty exchanges, Persian language classes in Iran for American students and cultural exchange. c. Phase Three - The possible establishment of a "Monitoring Democratization Process in Iran" unit. This unit would survey attitudes on a variety of reform measures, first among academics then in the broader society. It could also develop indexes to measure progress on democratization. To be workable, Pedram said such a project must have participation by academics loyal to the government, not just dissidents and liberal minded academics which has resulted in past failures. ¶5. The most interesting part of Pedram's proposal is his insight, drawing on his IVLP experience, that establishing a U.S. academic institution in Iran could allow that institution to work in cooperation with the Department of State to identify potential Iranian participants for U.S. exchange programs. Pedram was impressed by the role of the Institute of International Education (IIE) as an NGO that worked as a partner with the Department in organizing exchange programs. He felt that this model of a non-USG entity being the point for exchange programs could provide a workable mechanism for having an on-the-ground presence in Iran necessary for effectively providing information on, and identifying participants for, U.S. exchange programs. ¶6. Northeastern University has since invited Pedram to visit from March 15 - April 12, 2007 to participate in the Dialogue of Civilizations project. During this visit Northeastern wants him to assist with expanding the project to include Iran. Specifically, they want him to help establish links with Iranian universities, set LONDON 00000414 002 OF 002 up a workshop focusing on Iranian students and their role in promoting democracy, and organize a video conference with an Iranian university for the spring semester. Northeastern hopes to follow up with a visit to Iran sometime this year. In e-mails to Pedram, Professor Denis J. Sullivan (617-373-4409, d.sullivan@neu.edu),the Director of the Middle East Center for Peace, Culture, and Development has also broached with Pedram a future visiting fellowship. All of this points to real potential for implementing the ideas Pedram expressed in his proposal in cooperation with Northeastern University. ¶7. COMMENT: Pedram wants to spark USG interest in providing assistance to implement the ideas that he and Northeastern University have discussed. We do not see this as self-serving. From our debriefing (septel),it was clear that Pedram was highly energized by his IVLP experience and wants to build on it. He returned with a fundamentally changed view of the U.S. and a strong appreciation for the need to increase contacts and exchanges between the peoples of the United States and Iran (or at least academics). ¶8. COMMENT (cont.) We recommend NEA and ECA meet with Pedram and Professor Sullivan during Pedram's upcoming visit to explore opportunities for USG cooperation with their planned Iran outreach efforts. London Poloff/"Iran Watcher" views this initiative as directly supporting USG policy interests in substantive, transparent policy exchanges with Iranian civil society. This is also a good example of the inspiration and new thinking on Iran outreach that comes from exchange programs for Iranians. We are pleased to follow-up with Mr. Pedram, or facilitate contact, should the Department wish to pursue any of his ideas. Program Officer Sana Abed-Kotob in ECA/PE/V/R/N can provide further details on those Mr. Pedram met during his IVLP. TUTTLE