OMAN - BUILDING ON THE PRESIDENT'S CAIRO SPECH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000799 SENSITIVE SIPDIS (GBEHRMAN) DEPT FOR S/P (AMACDONALD) NEA/ARP NEA/PPD(DBENZE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID ECON OEXC KPAO KMPI SOCI XF MU SUBJECT: OMAN - BUILDING ON THE PRESIDENT'S CAIRO SPECH REF: STATE 71325 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: In Oman, President Obama's Cairo speech has generated both good will and expectations for enhanced cooperation. Embassy contacts, especially key players in MSP-critical areas including civil society, education, and the empowerment of women, are looking to the Embassy and the USG for American expertise, genuine (and continuing) partnership, and opportunities to expand individual and group capacity. END SUMMARY. -------------- --- THE IDEAL COMBINATION: KNOWLEDGE AND PARTNERSHIP -------------- --- ¶2. (SBU) The call, per reftel, to survey the local landscape for opportunities and openings to build on the Cairo speech came at an opportune time during which Post is already engaged in reviewing our programming in preparation for the arrival of a new ambassador. The key themes that have emerged, from both formal reviews with program partners and from private conversations with key contacts, are: - that U.S. resources are best engaged, in Oman, in making available American knowledge, best practices, and examples, across the range of activities with which we are involved; - that such programs are best delivered by trusted program partners who are able, in response to strong local cultural norms, to create genuine personal and institutional relationships through a continuing presence in-country. Forging these bonds takes time, but once in place they are invaluable in forwarding the U.S. agenda; and - that we are most likely to be effective when building on local priorities and taking advantage of "open door" opportunities. The Sultanate's leadership has a definite (if not always wholly transparent) program for the country's ongoing development (and, in some areas, reform),and we are maximally effective when we can use our leverage to advance local priorities. Good examples include education, especially at the primary and secondary levels, in which cooperation, especially through MEPI programming, has been highly effective on a national scale; rule of law and judicial administration, which has proved increasingly receptive to American programming; and, across the board, exchanges, which are widely seen by our contacts as among the most effective ways that the U.S. can impact local actors and audiences. The importance of continuing two specific initiatives promoting judicial and civil-society reform over the past three years will be discussed septel. -------------- MOVING FORWARD: AREAS OF ENGAGEMENT -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Within the framework of the three general areas of engagement laid out by the Cairo speech, we can provide the following initial assessments: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Embassy outreach in recent years has done much to familiarize Omani contacts with how the USG can engage in this broad area. The doors are open for expanded involvement in supporting Oman's ambitious education agenda, and with increasing creativity we have been able to work effectively even in locally sensitive areas such as promoting democracy (working within the local framework of enhancing the institutionalization of governance). Moving forward, we could usefully respond to local needs by enhancing health diplomacy, particularly in the area of women's health, supporting local initiatives to combat, for example, breast cancer and (a particularly severe local problem) diabetes. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INTERFAITH PARTNERSHIP: Both of these rank high among potential areas for increased engagement. In regard to the former, the implementation of the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement has clearly demonstrated the need for ongoing education and involvement in promoting opportunities it has made possible. In regard to the latter, Oman's tolerant and outward-looking religious establishment is open to greater interaction, a prospect assisted substantially by the presence in-country of an officially endorsed, U.S.-based center for interfaith dialogue. By regional standards a multicultural success story, Oman has the potential to take a greater role as a state that balances a strong Islamic heritage with a genuine interest in interfaith understanding. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Oman's academic leaders are aware of the MUSCAT 00000799 002 OF 002 pressing need to enhance local capacity in higher education (in order to decrease reliance on foreign professionals and provide jobs for citizens),to develop research capacity (in support of ambitious plans for industrial and commercial development),and grapple with development-related issues including water resources, energy capacity, and the balance between continuing growth and its effects on local ecology. In all of these areas, enhanced USG resources would allow us to engage more deeply and effectively with local partners. -------------- THE KEYS TO SUCCESS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: With fewer than three million citizens, Oman is a relatively small country grappling with large-scale issues. Consistent factors in Embassy outreach in all areas are the relatively limited number of appropriate local partners with which to work and the lack, beyond the key contacts in a given field, of advanced expertise to carry out the goals of a given project. As a result, we see the greatest impact in those areas in which we are able to support the presence of American or American-trained professionals in a given field. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: To use only one example, the presence in Muscat of an AMIDEAST country program (following more than three years of sustained Embassy negotiation with the Omani government, which resulted in AMIDEAST becoming the first fully recognized international non-government organization in the Sultanate) has proven transformative in giving the U.S. a platform for projects ranging from promoting U.S. higher education to furthering educational reform. We are seeing similar positive impact from the presence in-country of U.S.-funded organizations such as AIESEC, iEARN, and MEPI program partners the American Bar Association and the International Republican Institute (IRI). In combination with the deployment of traditional and new programming tools such as exchanges, cultural diplomacy, and information outreach, the presence of these organizations are among the most effective multipliers of success in forwarding our objectives. END COMMENT. HURTADO