Education, Tourism And Trade Hurt by Sept. 11, Mideast Strife By Howard Schneider Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, July 8, 2002; Page A12 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36461-2002Jul7.html CAIRO -- On its first swing through Cairo, a regional tour by representatives of American MBA programs demonstrated the promise of Arab-U.S. relations: 639 students, all from a country struggling to boost its economy, devoured information about how to get into Cornell, Duke, Carnegie Mellon or Georgetown. By last fall, however, the schools and the students were running scared, and in opposite directions. After Sept. 11, the fall 2001 tour was canceled, and this year's is in doubt. Among the universities that it was hoped would send recruiters back to the Middle East this fall, "no one has registered," said Sohair Saad, educational information director at the training group Amideast, which helped sponsor the MBA tour. Students, she said, are expressing less and less interest in studying in the United States. "We're scared of them, they are scared of us," she said of the current attitude toward the United States. "This is very unfortunate." Diplomatic and political tension between the United States and Arab countries is nothing new. U.S. support for Israel and an anti-Western streak in Arab politics have frequently put the two at cross-purposes. But the events of the past 10 months have cut far deeper, upending trends in tourism, education and trade that helped strengthen ties despite disagreements over foreign affairs. If Saudis did not like U.S. coziness with Israel, they did like Disney World, and flocked there each summer on Saudi Arabian Airlines' weekly flights from Jiddah to Orlando. Demand has disappeared, and the flights have been canceled. If Egyptians bemoaned their educational system, increasing numbers of them found alternatives in the United States, with more than 2,200 studying at U.S. colleges last year. Visa applications for the upcoming academic year, however, have fallen by about 50 percent, according to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. At Amideast, weekly sessions explaining the U.S. university system now draw five or fewer students instead of the 25 or more who routinely attended before Sept. 11. If Arab-U.S. trade was small by American standards, it was growing, as fast food franchises, consumer goods, automobiles and computers began to flow more freely into newly opened economies, such as Egypt's, or to newly prosperous countries in the Persian Gulf. Between a global recession and a well-organized Arab boycott of U.S. products, however, trade between the United States and Arab countries is down about 25 percent since last year. Economists say it is hard to determine accurately how much of the decline can be attributed to such international factors as exchange rates and the price of oil, but there is extensive anecdotal evidence that the boycott has taken a toll. Word of the boycott, triggered by the Israeli military incursion in the West Bank that began in March and perceived U.S. support for it, spread through coffee house chatter and Friday prayers, shoe-leather leafleting, mobile phone messages and Web sites that listed U.S., Israeli and other businesses whose products should be avoided. At its peak, the effort cost soft drink companies and fast food franchises 40 percent or more of their business in the Arab world, and left some companies, including Procter & Gamble, with serious branding problems. The company lost a reported 60 percent of its sales of Ariel detergent, solely because of the product's name. Originally a European product now manufactured in Egypt through a local limited partnership, Egyptian consumers identified it with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and stopped buying. "It is quieting down . . . but it goes into 20 or 30 percent" in terms of lost sales, said Loula Zaklama, president of Rada Research, a marketing company that has been advising Procter & Gamble. Even though the boycott had little apparent impact on the United States -- an executive at McDonald's parent office was not even aware of it -- the local effect was so intense that officials leapt to the defense of Arab franchise investors. In Saudi Arabia, the interior minister, Prince Nayef, discouraged the boycott, saying it would weaken the local economy but would not influence U.S. policy -- a sentiment echoed by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. In Jordan, labor unions and Islamic groups were forbidden to promote the boycott on the grounds that it would hurt the Jordanian economy and damage national security. The boycott is, however, still going on. And though its effect has abated -- Coke and Pepsi both launched aggressive marketing efforts tied to the World Cup to regain market share -- it is still noticeable. In Bahrain, the owner of the Muntaza supermarket chain pulled all American products from the shelves in March. A Western diplomat said business at the local McDonald's chain is still down 40 percent, and that dealers of U.S. automobiles, computers and other durable goods have also lost business. "If you want to buy Vermont maple syrup, it is available," the diplomat said. But "there was good organization, and word spread quickly." "The reality is there is going to be an economic effect" by limiting trade, academic and other ties that had been flourishing before Sept. 11, said Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), but it is a cost he said he believed Americans accepted in return for better security. Efforts are underway to counteract the damage. The State Department is expanding what it calls "public diplomacy" to burnish the image of the United States in the Arab world -- including the launching of a new pop music, Arabic-language radio station. Saudi tour agents, in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital, recently launched a "Go-2-USA" Web site to try to rebuild their transatlantic business. Companies throughout the region have battled the boycott with a none-too-subtle emphasis on their local employees and investors, and by distancing themselves from the United States, while others have donated a portion of sales to Palestinian relief organizations. At Amideast, there is still hope that demand will rebound. On Wednesday, some of Egypt's top students gathered at a reception honoring their imminent departure for such U.S. universities as Harvard and Stanford. Winners of a full scholarship offered by the Egyptian construction conglomerate Orascom, they have agreed to return to Egypt after they graduate. Orascom head Nassef Sawiris said that as they adjust to the post-Sept. 11 world, U.S. officials should keep in mind that some of their best ambassadors will not hail from the State Department, but will be students who have spent time studying in the United States. For Egypt and the United States, "it would be a disaster if it stopped," said Sawiris, a graduate of the University of Chicago. "It helps the U.S. to have people who'll be appreciative." © 2002 The Washington Post Company |