VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDM #0510 1980440
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 160440Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5190
INFO RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 7368
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 4964

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 000510 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, IIP/SDIS, IIP/NEA-SCA, R 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SY XF OEXC SCUL
SUBJECT: IIP SPEAKER DEREK SHEARER ENGAGES SYRIAN AUDIENCES ON U.S. 
ELECTIONS 
 
¶1.  (U)SUMMARY.  IIP speaker and former U.S. Ambassador Derek 
Shearer engaged diverse sectors of Syrians including university 
students, human rights, business, and media audiences during his May 
26-29 visit. Shearer shared an political insider's view of how the 
U.S. elections process works and provided various audiences with 
capitivating vignettes about all three candidates, their inner 
circles, and their key policy positions.  Shearer underscored that a 
new administration would assess its policies vis-`-vis Syria based 
on Syria's actions now, not on what the SARG might do after the new 
president was innaugurated.  Shearer's briefings were well-received 
and attracted wide media interest from new venues that exposed even 
more Syrians to Sheerer's explantion of American democracy and his 
assessment of the key factors that will likely determine this year's 
election winner END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Chevalier Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs at 
Senator Barak Obama's alma mater Occidental College in Los Angeles, 
Derek Shearer also serves as Occidental's Director of Global 
Affairs.  A former U.S. Ambassador to Finland in the Clinton 
Administration, Shearer ably drew upon his extensive knowledge--as a 
university professor, former diplomat, and expert in party 
politics--to explain the U.S. elections process to Syrians. 
 
¶3. (U) For the first time in three years, the Dean of Damascus 
University's Faculty of Political Sciences agreed to host an ACC 
speaker in a lecture to more than fifty graduate students and 
faculty in the Political Science Department of Damascus University, 
perhaps one of the last bastions of Baathist ideology.  Student 
questions were sophisticated and focused on how a new administration 
would change U.S. Middle East policy. Shearer skillfully addressed 
comments regarding U.S. policy bias toward Israel and highlighted a 
report prepared by his Oxy students, which gave detailed 
recommendations for the next administration on how best to restore 
America's image abroad.  The report left the Syrian students with a 
model of pro-active, American-style academic collaboration. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A quiet lunch at the Charge's residence offered a chance 
for human rights and democracy activists to discuss American 
politics with Shearer.  Many of the activists underscored their 
support of Bush Administration policies favoring democratic change 
in the region. Overwhelmingly, the attendees wanted the next 
president to continue the Bush Administration's strong stance on 
human rights and democracy in Syria.  Shearer was able to put the 
issues of promoting democracy and human rights into the broader 
context of campaign politics, which he distinguished from the more 
complicated arena of Executive-Congressional-Judicial process of 
governmening after the elections.  Participants benifitted from 
Shearer's insights into long-standing trends favoring democracy 
promotion, regardless of campaign rhetoric. 
 
¶5.  (U) PAS Damascus also used Shearer's visit to shore up 
relationships with traditional contacts like the Syrian Young 
Entrepreneurs Association and the Orient Center, Damascus' lone 
think tank.  Inquiries focused on whether a new Democratic 
administration would favor engagement over isolation of Syria. 
Calibrating his analysis to these well-informed audiences, Shearer 
explained the intricacies of policy formation that would likely 
impact upon future executive branch decisions regarding relations 
with Syria.  Armed with these insights, some of the participants 
have since used their positions to recommend positive steps prior to 
the elections to lay the groundwork for better relations with the 
next adminstration. 
 
¶6. (U) MEDIA COVERAGE: Shearer addressed the editorial board at 
al-Watan, the only semi-independent and privately owned daily in 
Syria.  The on-the-record session was lively and amicable and 
resulted in front page coverage of the U.S. elections process: 
"Former U.S. Ambassador Derek Shearer Visits Al-Watan Newspaper: 
Syrian-Israeli Peace Negotiations Must be Boosted."  The article 
focused on comments Shearer made about the current U.S. 
Administration supporting Syrian-Israeli peace talks so as to reach 
a settlement before the expiration of the Bush Administration. 
 
¶8. (U) The "Sada Soria" website published on May 27, 2008, an 
article about Shearer's lecture at the Syrian Public Relations 
Association in which he reiterated the importance of public 
relations in international relations. An interview with private 
al-Donia TV has not yet been not aired. 
 
¶9.  (U) COMMENT.  Whether meeting journalists or lecturing in a 
public venue, Shearer fed and expanded the Syrian interest in the 
upcoming U.S. election.  He exploited opportunities to urge Syrians 
to highlight positive aspects of the bilateral relationship in the 
run-up to the election and after.  Embassy Damascus will continue to 
use this interest as a platform to engage Syrians on elections and 
democracy in a free and open society.  END COMMENT. 
 
CORBIN