SAVING THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE CENTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000803


FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA, AND NEA/PPD PAGNEW, INFO ECA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2018
TAGS: KPAO PREL SCUL SY
SUBJECT: SAVING THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE CENTER

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (U) This is an action request. See paragraph 6.

2.(C) SUMMARY: On October 28, the SARG directed the Charge
d,Affaires to close the American Cultural Center (ACC) and
the American Language Center (ALC). The ALC is the English
teaching program overseen by the ACC. In response to the
SARG,s direction, public activities at the ACC and English
language classes at the ALC have been suspended. The closure
of the ALC presents post with a dilemma: because the ALC must
cover its costs and is operated by a grantee organization, it
cannot remain closed for long without going out of business.
Post requests guidance as to whether Embassy Damascus is
authorized to explore possible means of preserving the ALC
and asks the Department to work with Amideast to obtain their
agreement to postpone closing down for as long as possible.
END SUMMARY


3. (C) While the "closure" of the ACC is manageable for now,
and most of its work continues behind the scenes, the closure
of the Language Center is time-sensitive and a cause for
concern. Established nearly 20 years ago, the ALC is the
leading institution for English instruction in Damascus and
our major public diplomacy outreach tool in Syria. Over 9000
Syrians annually study English at the ALC, and it runs
numerous training courses for Syrian teachers and
businesspersons. Post funds English study at the ALC for a
wide range of human rights activists through special grants.
Over 200 Syrians, many of them SARG employees, receive post-issued
scholarships to study at the ALC. The Language Center,s role in
fostering American values through English study has been
incalculable over the years, and it has provided a large pool
of recruits for exchanges and cultural programs.


4. (C) The ALC is currently administered through a complex
cooperative agreement (similar to a grant agreement) between
post and Amideast headquarters in Washington. This
arrangement relieves post of administrative and financial
responsibility for the Center, which it would be impossible
for us to administer directly. The present agreement took
post,s PAO over six months to negotiate and implement. It is
for $1.6 million, funded by receipts from tuition and testing
at the ALC.


5. (C) If we do not reopen the ALC soon, Amideast will incur
unsustainable financial losses and will be forced to withdraw
from our agreement, forcing the permanent closure of the
Center. ALC,s closure would deprive us of one of our key
tools for supporting the beleaguered human rights community
in Syria, of our major public diplomacy outreach tool, and of
a vital program for sustaining people to people contacts with
the Syrian public.


6. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Post requests Department guidance on
whether Embassy Damascus can explore means of persuading the
SARG to allow the reopening of the ALC in a reasonable time
frame. We also request that the Department discuss with
Amideast leadership their willingness to maintain the current
arrangement - some losses notwithstanding long enough to
engage the SARG. We would welcome the Department's
exploration of any other possible avenues to maintain this
vital public diplomacy tool.
CONNELLY