Cablegate: Scenesetter for the Visit of Presidential Science

VZCZCXRO8768
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHLB #1366/01 3650800
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 310800Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6273
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 3729
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001366

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR S/P BEHRMAN
STATE ALSO FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA, OES/STC
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP/RAO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ESTH EINT PGOV KGHG KIPR TSPL LE
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF PRESIDENTIAL SCIENCE
ENVOY AHMED ZEWAIL

REF: STATE 126780

1. (SBU) Embassy Beirut welcomes your visit to Lebanon, which
will offer a unique opportunity to highlight the importance
of scientific issues, from climate change to communications
policy, at the highest levels of the GOL while raising
general awareness among the public at large. Although
Lebanon is home to first-class institutions of higher
learning and a variety of science education programs,
Lebanon's science graduates often emigrate and take their
expertise elsewhere, fleeing a job market where political
connections often matter more than qualifications and a
business environment where intellectual property protection
is weak.

2. (SBU) Years of political instability have left the state
incapable of setting policy that could encourage science and
technology (S&T) as a platform for development and undermined
planning to address issues such as climate change or pandemic
disease. Nonetheless, an active NGO sector has replaced the
government in many areas, advocating for improvements in
Lebanon's telecommunications infrastructure to promote
development, drafting environmental policies, and pushing for
education in the sciences. Recently, the new Prime Minister,
Saad Hariri, has publicly promised to work with all parties
in his national unity government to promote reform, and his
economic advisors have indicated he is particularly
interested in promoting information technology as a
springboard for growth.

3. (SBU) Subject to scheduling availability, Embassy Beirut
proposes the following program for your visit, and welcomes
your feedback:

-- Meetings with President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister
Saad Hariri as a follow-up to President Obama's Cairo speech
and to underscore USG commitment to building bridges in areas
of scientific endeavor. Should scheduling conflicts preclude
these meetings, we propose appointments with the ministers of
environment, health, education, or telecommunications.
-- Visit to the National Council for Scientific Research, a
governmental body responsible for S&T policy that provides
modest research grants and supports several scientific
research centers.
-- Visit to the science and engineering facilities at one or
more of Lebanon's universities: the American University of
Beirut (AUB), the Lebanese American University (LAU),
Saint-Joseph University, and/or the Lebanese University.
-- Visit to IndyAct, Lebanon's premiere environmental NGO,
which is very active both in Lebanon and in international
fora in promoting environmental action. IndyAct led a
30-member delegation to the COP15 summit in Copenhagen and
has played a leading role in advising the GOL on
environmental topics.
-- Visit to the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, a
regional NGO which recently produced a short documentary on
the effects of climate change on the Arab World and hosted a
regional climate change conference in Beirut in November 2009.
-- Visit to the Lebanese National Network (LNN), an NGO which
launched SciLeb, which it describes as "a national network of
educators and academicians dedicated to sustaining and
increasing the advance of teaching, research, and educational
applications in Lebanon." SciLeb has sponsored teacher
training courses and student participation in international
science competitions and is active in over 150 schools in
Lebanon.
-- Meeting with the Lebanon Broadband Stakeholders Group, a
gathering of private sector and civil society activists who
advocate the improvement of Lebanon's technology
infrastructure as a platform for development and job creation.
-- Meeting with the Association for Forest Development and
Conservation (AFDC), an organization that through U.S. Forest
Service support (funded by USAID/Lebanon) has received
technical training to improve Lebanon's capacity to combat
forest fires that burn significant amounts of Lebanon's
woodlands each year.
-- A reception or dinner at the Ambassador's residence
gathering public and private sector figures, as well as civil
society activists, working on scientific issues.
-- An exclusive interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting
Corporation (LBC)'s Marcel Ghanem for his popular weekly
talkshow, Kalam an-Nas, which would get both national and
regional distribution.

BEIRUT 00001366 002 OF 002

4. (SBU) Several of the organizations mentioned above have
benefitted from U.S. assistance, either through direct
funding or through training from various USG agencies.
IndyAct has sent representatives to Department of Interior
training sessions on the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) and has USG funding to participate
in Embassy Amman's upcoming regional workshop on S&T and the
media. LNN has received programming support funds through
Public Diplomacy initiatives. The American educational
institutions AUB, LAU, and Haigazian receive scholarship and
other grants from the USG and have strong networks of
academic collaboration in the United States. The Lebanese
Ministry of Health has requested assistance to improve its
epidemiological capacity, but has received none so far.
There is ample room for increased collaboration between the
U.S. and Lebanon on ESTH capacity-building and projects, and
we look forward to your visit to pave the way for further
cooperation.
SISON

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