VZCZCXRO8541
RR RUEHCHI RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHPB
DE RUEHJA #0373 0630050
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040050Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1698
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 2391

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/P - AMSlaughter from Ambassador Hume 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO SCUL OEXC CVIS ID
SUBJECT: THE SECRETARY'S INDONESIA VISIT:  NEW PARTNERSHIP BEGINS 
WITH EDUCATION 
 
¶1. (U) During her recent visit to Jakarta, Secretary Clinton 
announced that the United States and Indonesia would form a 
comprehensive partnership. At the heart of that partnership is 
recognition of the importance of education. International education 
is a win-win for the U.S.-Indonesian partnership; it is also an area 
where Secretary Clinton can carve out a new niche for the State 
Department. The Secretary already set some straightforward goals in 
this area; doubling the number of Indonesian students studying in 
the U.S., increasing linkages between American and Indonesian 
universities, and sending more American students to Indonesia. 
Reaching these goals will require creativity, coordination, hard 
work, and financial support to put in place a new architecture of 
collaboration. This cable outlines our road map for moving ahead on 
this agenda. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Based on current estimates, doubling the number of 
Indonesian students in the U.S. would boost our economy by nearly 
$200 million per year.  More importantly, many of Indonesia's senior 
leaders were educated in the United States, including the president, 
central bank chief, senior economics minister, and Minister of 
Defense. Numerous top business leaders, journalists, and civil 
society figures were also the beneficiaries of an American 
education. Many of these alumni have maintained an extensive network 
of contacts in the U.S. and time and again we've seen a direct 
correlation between those who support our policies and those who 
studied in America. It is clear that our two countries' relationship 
benefits from the large number of influential U.S. alumni. 
 
¶3. (U) In recent years, many Indonesian students looking for 
educational opportunities have turned away from the United States, 
in part because of the misperception that America has become less 
hospitable to foreigners. But there is another, equally important 
reason: while we have been fighting the battle of ideas and the 
waging the war on terror, we failed to engage in the struggle for 
the minds of the next generation's leaders.   At a time when 
governments from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Australia were 
ramping up and modernizing their student recruiting operations, the 
U.S. Government did not. In Indonesia - and likely elsewhere - the 
result has been declining market share for foreign students and an 
erosion of our country's centrality in the global web. Our long-term 
position as the world's most connected country has been allowed to 
slip, one student at a time. 
 
¶4. (U) Implementing the comprehensive partnership and Secretary 
Clinton's goals will reverse these trends, but this is largely 
uncharted territory. We do not believe anything like this has been 
attempted before in a country as large as Indonesia.  Why not make 
Indonesia the model country for the Secretary's education vision? 
The Embassy is developing an action plan including traditional 
elements such as outreach, advising, and more pro-active marketing 
and public relations efforts as well as new initiatives to nurture 
and channel public, private, and people-to-people efforts. The 
Mission cannot attain these goals, however, without intellectual, 
policy, and financial support from Washington. 
 
¶5. (U) The goals we've set will help cement America's status as the 
central player in an integrated world. They will advance our 
national interest.  In the coming months I will travel to the U.S. 
to discuss ways to promote American higher education. At that time I 
would like to solicit your ideas on ways to encourage the academic, 
scientific, commercial and other linkages that should become even 
more important to our nation's future. 
Hume