FY-2007 TEACHING AREA STUDIES, 11/15-12/2/06: EVALUATION BY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LONDON 000473

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR ECA/PE/V/R/N (ABED-KOTOB)
INFO ECA/PE/V/M (CAROL GRABAUSKAS/TEVE TAYLOR)
NEA/PPD
EUR/PPD
EUR/UBI
DUBAI FOR RAMIN ASGARD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL IR UK
SUBJECT: FY-2007 TEACHING AREA STUDIES, 11/15-12/2/06: EVALUATION BY
UK/IRAN IVLP ALIMOHAMMAD PEDRAM

REF: LONDON 414


1. SUMMARY/RESULTS-IMPACT
--------------
A). Ali Pedram found this an interesting and informative program on
all fronts, academically, professionally and personally. It
destroyed the preconceived ideas he had of the United States and its
culture as well as its foreign policy toward the Middle East. Ali
found Americans well informed about international issues and to have
astute political judgment. As an Iranian, Ali thought he might
encounter hostility from U.S. officials and ordinary Americans, but
this was not the case. Although he always kept his passport with
him, he was never asked to show it. In fact, he felt very safe and
welcome throughout the program. He felt the objective of providing
participants with a good grounding in American culture was well
achieved and that the overall program was 100 percent successful.

B). The program was packed and the timing could not have been
better. It was very beneficial to get a better understanding of how
the system of government works and what it does. The IVLP also
sparked many interesting and useful contacts, which he has already
followed up. Ali was extremely pleased with the opportunity to
attend the Middle East Studies Association annual conference in
Boston, where he said he was able to meet 85 percent of the best
scholars on the Middle East in one place. His home hospitality
experiences were wonderful.

C). At his debriefing, Ali mentioned that he would like to see an
American-Iranian University Partnership set up to increase academic
collaboration and exchanges, and then to develop a university-based,
non-governmental institution to help identify potential exchange
partnerships in Iran and foster exchanges. Post reported this
separately in London 414, dated February 1, 2007, with a
recommendation that the Department explore the opportunities the
proposal presents. If ever there was a positive result from an
IVLP, this is one. Ali felt it important that more dialogue take
place between the West and countries like Iran to improve
understanding between ordinary Iranians and people from the West,
and thus the overall relationship.

D). Ali had high praise for Avi Davidi's work as ELO. Davidi was
able to sort out myriad details allowing the participants to make
the most of the trip. He also helped them incorporate added
elements to the program, such as a meeting with Hill Foreign Affairs
Committee staff.

E). Ali enjoyed traveling with Naika Foroutan-Mahin. They had lots
of mutual topics in common and they both wanted to get as much out
of the project as possible.


2. BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, NOVEMBER 16-24, 2006
-------------- -
A). The overview given by Dr. Mark Silverstein from Boston
University was excellent and laid the ground for the remainder of
the program.

B). The four day Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual
Conference was very significant and a great experience academically.
It was really useful meeting leading scholars in Middle East
studies. In fact, it was difficult to pick which panel discussions
to attend, as there were so many excellent ones from which to
choose.

C). The meeting at the Northeastern University was also tremendously
useful and fruitful. Staff presented the University's academic
programs, and in particular their practice-oriented education
program and the nation's largest cooperative education program. It
was through these meetings, particularly with Professor Denis
Sullivan of the Middle East Center for Peace, Culture and
Development that Ali developed his proposal for U.S.-Iranian
university partnerships. Ali has been offered a visiting fellowship
by Northeastern University to help it expand its existing program of
cooperation with Middle Eastern universities to include Iran and to
organize a video conference in the spring of 2007 with Iranian
university students and faculty.

D). He thoroughly enjoyed the home hospitality over Thanksgiving
with a family. He had an interesting conversation about the history
of Boston. They kindly gave him a gift.

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E). They went to see the film Borat while in Boston, which Ali found
very funny.


3. RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, NOVEMBER 24-29, 2006
-------------- ---
A). The local sponsor did a brilliant job in putting together an
excellent program. Ali had an amazing experience, from the
professional programming to sightseeing. He was fascinated to see
that there were two Persian carpet stores plus Persian cafes and
restaurants.

B). The meetings at the various universities were really worthwhile.
This included:
- Meeting with Ruth Pitts, University of North Carolina (UNC),and
Carl Ernst, Director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the
Middle East and Muslim Civilizations, UNC. Ali is in touch with
Ruth Pitts and they may collaborate on a study of U.S.-EU relations
surrounding the Iran nuclear issue, which he had a chance to discuss
during the visit. Ali felt that it is very important for students
and scholars to have experience of studying in foreign countries, as
it gives them a better understanding of how different people view
international relations. A visit to the University Press at Duke
University and the Sunday service at the University's chapel were
wonderful. It reminded him of the services in Durham Cathedral.

C). One of the highlights of the program was being taken on a three
hour driving tour of the Raleigh-Durham area by a former U.S.
Ambassador to Turkmenistan, who is the editor in chief of the
Diplomacy Journal. Ali found this unnamed host very knowledgeable
and intelligent, and he was overwhelmed that such an eminent man
would take the time to informally drive around with two foreign
visitors. This made an impression on Ali about the volunteer spirit
and hospitality of Americans.

D). The home hospitality with Linda Carl was very fun.


4. WASHINGTON, D.C., NOVEMBER 29-DECEMBER 2, 2006
-------------- --------------
A). Although Ali gained a lot out of the D.C. program, he was sorry
that a visit to Capitol Hill was not included in the formal program.
As mentioned earlier, the group managed to organize this themselves
with the assistance of ELO Avi Davidi. However, Ali said he would
have liked to meet a Member of Congress. Ali also felt that the
program would have benefited from meetings with think tanks like
Brookings (meeting was cancelled).

B). Because a meeting with the Voice of America was not included in
the formal program, Ali arranged his own meeting. He felt that it
was unfortunate that this meeting had not been arranged as VOA is
the only interface between the USG and the Iranian people. He did
not wish to visit VOA for an interview, but rather to see first-hand
how this very important institution operated. Ali thought it
tremendously important for him and future Iranian visitors to get an
understanding of the VOA and how it tries to fulfill an independent
journalistic mission while also conveying information about the U.S.
and USG policies and maintaining an audience in a competitive
communications marketplace. Ali was concerned that the U.S.
government was not using this very useful tool to talk to the
Iranian people and that they are loosing customers to the BBC, which
has just opened their Persian Service. While at VOA Ali was asked
if he would be interviewed on air, but he declined as it could have
put him in an awkward situation back home. It was really useful
for him to see how VOA works, how news is spotted, collected and
edited. Ali has had some experience with connecting with Iranian
youth as a broadcaster in Iran. He would be happy to provide any
useful assistance to VOA or the Department of State in this regard.


C). The meetings at the University of Maryland and Howard University
were excellent. At the University of Maryland they visited the
Center for Persian Studies and had the opportunity to interact with
the students. It was interesting to learn that the second or third
generation of U.S./Iranians are wanting to learn FARSI and to learn
about Persian history and literature. Ali was amazed by the quality
of the students in the literature class he attended. Ali was also
impressed by Howard University. He felt that the Howard program
would flourish within the next three years. He was only sorry that
a meeting at Johns Hopkins was not included and that there was no

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area studies component.

D). The concert at the Kennedy Center was good and he was amazed to
see that the hall was full. They saw a group of 40 Iranian singers
and composers performing classic Persian music. It was a very
charismatic evening.

E). Avi Davidi scored another fantastic success when he arranged for
Ali to attend an interview between the Saudi Ambassador and Jim
Geffries. What was planned as a fifteen minute meeting turned into
a fifty minute talk.

G). Asked about how to best structure future Iranian IVLPs, Ali said
that the Department of State should focus on non-political or
controversial topics such as the humanities, art, literature and
perhaps filmmaking. He also encouraged inclusion of inter-religious
dialogue and urged us not to forget religious seminary students in
Iran when looking for participants as this is a key target audience
of future influencers.

TUTTLE