Grassroots Goodwill--that's more like it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/world/middleeast/06cairo.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

This is something I can respect. Giving young people legitimate, deep-rooted, and rational reasons to appreciate America. Why else should anyone favor us? We don't have enough guns or influence to coerce the world into being "on our side"--and the only way to prevent a downward spiral is to help young people in places like Egypt to help themselves. Giving them something priceless and timeless--like an education--is the way to truly gain lasting esteem abroad. After years of watching America do things like "invade Iraq" (that's how many see it) and give Israel what has often seemed like unequivocal support, Arabs need to "won over," not pushed over.

Here's an excerpt:

BENI SUEF, Egypt — The United States spends a lot of money in Egypt. It gives Egypt about $1.7 billion in cash aid annually, most of which goes to purchase weapons and support the military. There is also a huge United States Embassy in Cairo, second in size only to the new one in Iraq, filled with diplomats, military officers, F.B.I. agents, drug enforcement agents, C.I.A. agents and more.


The United States also spent about $2,000 over two years to teach Yousra Yousef to speak English. She is a 15-year-old from Asyut, one of the most conservative, tradition-bound cities in this country, once an incubator for Islamic extremism. Officials in Washington were a bit angry at how much it cost to teach Ms. Yousef, an official here said, because in other countries, the same program costs about $1,000 a student.

But what did the United States get for its investment in this young woman?

“The most important idea I learned is to respect differences,” said Ms. Yousef, with a big white smile.

She said this in English, expressing an idea considered rebellious in a society that prizes and encourages conformity. Ms. Yousef picked up her new language and thinking skills as part of Access, an after school English language program that is a small, almost invisible corner of the United States Department of State’s multibillion-dollar budget. It is a low profile, delayed-impact program that aims to promote change and understanding from the bottom up. Since its inception in 2004, it has taught 32,000 students in 50 countries.

Access arrived in Egypt about two years ago and 182 teenagers from all over the country, Christians and Muslims, young men and young women, have graduated from the program. The only requirement is that they come from poor families.

The program was never promoted as part of the Bush administration’s drive to bring democracy to the Middle East, and may never have been conceived in those terms. But the young people say it has changed their lives, leading them to embrace diversity, tolerance and compromise, the building blocks of a democratic, pluralistic society.

“Everything in my life is different now,” said Manal Adel Ahmed, a 16-year-old girl who also is from Asyut. “Before, I was afraid to deal with anybody who was different, I thought it was bad. Now, I think it’s important to get to know other people and other cultures.”

The course work emphasizes learning English, but it also aims to impart a better understanding of American culture, which is often quite alien to the young people here. “Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday,” said Nourhan Ahmed, 16. “The idea of having your whole family come around and eat once a year is great, especially because it’s not religious. It’s not for one group or another. It’s for everyone.”

... “It changed my life, it changed my thinking, my choices, my friends. It opened doors. There isn’t one area it didn’t benefit me in.”

“You can’t build democracy by saying, ‘We take democracy,’ ” said Adly Hassanein, who with his wife, Djodi, owns the center. “You have to build democracy in the hearts of young people.”


“We learned about equality,” said Abanoud Wanees, 16, who is from the city of Minya.

“We learned about individualism,” said Fady Samir, 14, also from Minya. Then he stood up and said: “I want to add something. They let us learn to think.”