VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDO #0604/01 2790947
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060947Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9424
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/USAFCENT SHAW AFB SC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS DOHA 000604 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT PRADEEP 
RAMAMURTHY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KDEM KMPI KPAO ECON EAID ESTH EAGR QA
SUBJECT: EMBASSY DOHA'S WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO 
CAIRO SPEECH IMPLEMENTATION 
 
REF: A. DOHA 458 
     ¶B. DOHA 595 
 
--------------- 
(SBU) KEY POINTS 
---------------- 
 
-- We welcome your visit to Qatar. This cable complements Ref 
A (Embassy Doha's engagement on Cairo speech initiatives), 
describes our strategic approach to policy implementation and 
identifies two areas in which your support would assist our 
interagency efforts linked to the Cairo speech. 
 
-- The Cairo Speech is a central element in "synchronization" 
- Embassy Doha,s whole of government approach to USG policy 
implementation in Qatar, centered on interagency groups 
organized around achieving shared interagency goals. 
 
-- Our "Muslim Community Engagement" synchronization group 
builds on the President,s Cairo speech as a strategic 
declaration of intent on the use of USG interagency soft 
power in reaching out to Muslim communities. The group,s 
over-arching goal is the continued operationalization of the 
President,s intent by the USG interagency in Qatar. 
 
-- Ref A lays out existing relevant Qatari initiatives; 
current USG interagency engagement with those initiatives; 
and potential future USG engagement. 
 
End key points. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
EMBASSY DOHA,S WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT APPROACH 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Cairo Speech is a central element in 
"synchronization" - Embassy Doha,s whole of government 
approach to USG policy implementation in Qatar.  Centered on 
interagency groups organized around achieving shared 
interagency goals, the synchronization process brings 
together all elements of the interagency engaged in achieving 
a common goal in Qatar. Each group is lead directly by the 
Front Office, ensuring regular communication among group 
members and providing a sustained interagency perspective to 
guide the group,s activities.  Our Virtual Country Team 
concept uses technology to enable participation in 
synchronization groups by non-resident agencies and 
departments that cover Qatar on a regional basis. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy Doha holds six-monthly interagency off-sites 
- which also embrace non-resident members of the Virtual 
Country Team - to analyze key trends in Qatar and assess the 
implications of trend directions for U.S. policy.  The 
discussions, analysis and priorities thus generated drive the 
establishment of goal-oriented synchronization groups - 
formed and disbanded as goals are defined and achieved - 
aimed at shaping and influencing the operating environment 
for the USG interagency in Qatar. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
MUSLIM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SYNCH GROUP 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Our "Muslim Community Engagement" synchronization 
group builds on the President,s Cairo speech as a strategic 
declaration of intent on the use of USG interagency soft 
power in reaching out to Muslim communities. The group 
includes members from across the interagency and its 
over-arching goal is the continued operationalization of the 
President,s intent by the USG interagency in Qatar. 
 
¶4. (U) Qatar is already a progressive force in the three 
priority areas for engagement identified in the Cairo speech 
) human development; entrepreneurship and interfaith 
partnership; and science and technology - and could be a 
valuable regional partner and force-multiplier in all three 
areas.  A stable, resource-rich country under progressive 
leadership, Qatar has already initiated in these three areas 
an impressive range of strategic and tactical initiatives 
that are local, regional and international in scope. 
 
¶5. (SBU) USG engagement in Qatar would most usefully be 
focused on creating partnerships to advance our shared 
region-wide engagement goals as laid out in the Cairo speech. 
Ref A - which we commend to you in its entirety - lays out 
existing relevant Qatari initiatives; current USG interagency 
engagement with those initiatives; and potential future USG 
engagement. Areas covered in Ref A include economic 
development, education, women and girls, youth, health, 
environment, rule of law, entrepreneurship, science and 
technology. 
 
------------------------------ 
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR VISIT 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) We highlight two potential areas of focus for your 
visit. The first - food security - did not figure in the 
Cairo speech. However, it is a national security imperative 
for Gulf nations and represents a potentially rich area of 
strategic engagement with Muslim communities across the 
region. The second, a Qatari youth employment networking 
initiative, has similar potential for productive USG 
engagement in Qatar and the region. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
FOOD SECURITY: AN EXISTENTIAL IMPERATIVE FOR GULF NATIONS 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Qatar is one of several wealthy Gulf nations with 
little or no agricultural production for whom food security 
is a vital national security interest. After investing in 
land in countries such as Pakistan and Kenya in an attempt to 
secure food supplies for a growing population in the decades 
to come, Qatar (Ref B) has more recently begun to explore 
possibilities for commercial or other partnerships with 
developed nations. It has established an agency to pursue its 
food security agenda - not just through outright land 
ownership in foreign countries, but also through investments 
and partnerships. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The prevailing lack of food security represents an 
existential vulnerability for Gulf nations and is an area in 
which soft power engagement by the USG would resonate 
powerfully across the region. Partnerships between Gulf 
countries and American farmers would be advantageous for 
American farmers and would also put the USG in a better 
position to partner with these countries in pursuing our own 
food security strategy with poorer nations in the Arab world 
and beyond. 
 
------------------------------------- 
SILATECH: FOCUSED ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) In 2008, the Amir's consort Shaykha Mozah founded 
"Silatech" ("Your Connection" in Arabic, www.silatech.com) to 
promote youth employment in the 22 countries of the Arab 
region. Silatech has held two large conferences in Doha and 
is now working on pilot programs in six countries (Qatar, 
Morocco, Syria, Yemen, Tunisia, and Bahrain). It focuses on 
three areas: improving access to skills training and 
placement services; the promotion of policies to stimulate 
increased employment and enterprise opportunities; and 
changing the "mindset" in the region to improve society's 
support for youth employment. 
 
¶10. (U) Silatech has signed agreements with other 
organizations working on youth employment in the Arab world, 
such as the Brookings Institution, Dubai School of 
Government, Manpower, and Pearson Education. Post recently 
connected Silatech with MEPI and the Small Business 
Administration to discuss potential areas for partnership. We 
continue to see possibilities for productive engagement with 
Silatech that would have local and regional impact, in direct 
support of the President,s intent in his Cairo speech. 
LeBaron