Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! U Kansas Professor Wows Kurdistan

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000650 SIPDIS ECA FOR D IVES; NEA/PPD FOR P BERGSTRESSER AND P AGNEW E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO SCUL SOCI PGOV OEXC OIIP IZ SUBJECT: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! U Kansas Professor Wows Kurdistan Region REFTEL: 08 Baghdad 3545 (U) This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) reporting cable. Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) During a jam-packed visit to the Kurdistan Region, University of Kansas Political Science Department Chairman Burdett Loomis spoke to students and faculty at major universities in Dohuk and Erbil on the transition to the new Obama administration and the effects it will have on domestic and foreign policy. Professor Loomis participated in a lively discussion with the KNA Media and Public Relations Committee and met with the Dohuk Governor and KRG Minister of Higher Education. He blogged about his experience throughout his trip: http://web.ku.edu/~iraqtrip/cgi-bin/. As was the case for University of Massachusetts Professor Mike Hannahan last fall (reftel),RRT Erbil's local university partners took the lead in handling the logistics for Professor Loomis. He traveled to Erbil via Austrian Airlines and was treated by his host universities like any other foreign visitor. In his out-briefing with RRT PD officers, Professor Loomis stressed that he was completely comfortable with the universities taking the lead and considered the Kurdistan Region to be on par with Argentina and Malaysia in terms of security. He was also very enthusiastic about the possibilities for further exchanges and linkages, particularly with Hawler Medical University and Duhok University. End Summary. Context -------------- ¶2. (U) With the strong support of Embassy Baghdad's Public Affairs Section, RRT Erbil's Public Diplomacy Section brought University of Kansas Professor Burdett (Bird) Loomis to the Kurdistan Region February 17-27 for a series of lectures at major universities and other venues in Duhok and Erbil provinces. Loomis, the chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Kansas, is an expert on American politics and focused his talks on the transition to the new Obama administration. The Visit: Lectures at Duhok University. -------------- ¶3. (U) Professor Loomis' first stop was Duhok University, which routinely hosts visiting faculty members from European universities and whose leadership has frequently asked for USG support in bringing U.S. academics to the school. Loomis gave a series of lectures over the course of four days to students, faculty members, college deans, and KDP officials. He also met with the Duhok Governor and was interviewed by the local media. ...and in Erbil -------------- ¶4. (U) Professor Loomis spent the second half of his visit in Erbil, where he was hosted by the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Higher Education and Hawler Medical University. Loomis gave lectures on the transition to the new Obama administration and its likely impact on both American domestic and foreign policy to students and faculty of Salahaddin University's College of Law and Political Science and at Hawler Medical University, as well as a private lecture for members of the Kurdistan National Assembly's Media and Public Relations Committee. Loomis spent a considerable amount of time with the Dean of the Kurdistan Medical Research Center and the President of Hawler Medical University discussing how to establish partnerships with the University of Kansas. ¶5. (U) During his stay in Erbil, Professor Loomis also met with KRG Minister of Higher Education (MoHE) Dr. Idris Salih. Salih accompanied Loomis to Salahaddin University, where he delivered a second, encore lecture to approximately 250 students and faculty members from the Colleges of Media, History, and English Language. Qmembers from the Colleges of Media, History, and English Language. The Minister also attended two lunches for Professor Loomis during his stay: one hosted by the RRT and one hosted by the MoHE. The Minister, sporting a large Jayhawk lapel pin, expressed his thanks more than once to the RRT and Embassy Baghdad for providing the opportunity for American academics to visit the Kurdistan Region. Logistics Note -------------- ¶6. (U) As was the case for University of Massachusetts Professor Mike Hannahan last fall (reftel),our university partners took the lead in handling the logistics for Professor Loomis. The only glitch in his schedule was caused, ironically, by Austrian Airlines, which bumped him from his initial flight from Vienna to Erbil, leading to the cancellation of the Sulaimaniyah portion of his visit. He stayed at hotels in Duhok and Erbil and his local transportation and security arrangements were handled entirely by the host institutions. In his out-briefing with RRT PD officers before his departure, Professor Loomis stressed that he was completely comfortable with the universities taking the lead, noting that he felt the Kurdistan Region was far safer than, for example, Mexico and that he considered it to be on par with Argentina and Malaysia in terms of public security. Comment: Bring More Professors for Longer Periods of Time -------------- ¶7. (U) Professor Loomis' host institutions and the KRG's Ministry of Higher Education consistently request more visiting professors and strongly urge the USG to allow American scholars to come to the Region under the auspices of the Fulbright Program. Our various interlocutors all would prefer that U.S. academics stay on campus for longer periods of time, ideally one semester or even an academic year to aid in the capacity-building and curriculum reform at their universities. Given the success of Professor Loomis' visit, which again proved that the Kurdistan Region's universities are capable of hosting American academics with minimal USG involvement, we would ask that ECA give all due consideration to the universities' requests. BUTENIS