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If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol).Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08TBILISI682.
| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08TBILISI682 | 2008-04-22 12:25 | 2011-08-30 01:44 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Tbilisi |
VZCZCXRO4502 OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSI #0682/01 1131225 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 221225Z APR 08 FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9320 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000682 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/PPD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO GG SUBJECT: SOFT POWER RULES: A CASE STUDY FROM TBILISI IN COUNTERING ANTI-AMERICANISM ¶1. SUMMARY: Polls on U.S. policies, society, and values show support in the high 90%s in Georgia. But after Opposition politicians opportunistically introduced anti-American elements into public discourse this past winter, AmEmbassy Tbilisi re-calibrated its public diplomacy approach, including with the media, to emphasize our neutrality as regards internal Georgian politics as well as all that we do for the people of Georgia. END SUMMARY. The Context for "Anti-Americanism" --------------------------------- ¶2. The International Republican Institute's (IRI) semi-annual opinion poll of Georgian citizens and all other polling data show an extremely high level of support for U.S. policies, society, and values. In IRI's February 2008 survey, 94% of those polled evaluated Georgia's relations with the United States as good, and 49% of those polled evaluated the U.S. as Georgia's most important partner. These numbers have held relatively steady for several years. All political parties and leaders consistently look to the U.S. as a model and regularly identify their platforms with U.S. values and policies. ¶3. However, on a few occasions during the extended political crises of this past winter and spring, Opposition figures used a perceived U.S. Government bias in favor of President Saakashvili and his National Movement Party to rally their supporters. Even when opposition figures tell us privately they want our continued support, they may attack us publicly. Opposition leader Kobe Davitashvili, head of the People's Party, organized two poorly-attended anti-U.S. demonstrations outside the Embassy, and on January 13, at an opposition demonstration in downtown Tbilisi, protesters held up placards claiming voter fraud in the presidential elections. Our Response - What We Have Done for Georgia Lately --------------------------------------------- ------ ¶4. To counter this, the Embassy adopted a new dual approach: hard policy statements on NATO, the conflict zones, and other issues would be made jointly by Ambassador Tefft together with other western diplomats in Georgia or by senior State Department and European Bureau representatives from outside Georgia, while statements and public diplomacy opportunities from inside Georgia would focus on what the U.S. Mission is doing for the people of Georgia, emphasizing the broad range of U.S. support. ¶5. On March 8, from Zurich, Assistant Secretary Fried conducted a telephone interview with Rustavi 2 Television after the Russian government moved to unilaterally lift sanctions on Abkhazia. On March 20, AS Fried conducted a televised bridge interview with Rustavi 2 television from the DOS Brussels media hub. In the lead up to the April 2-4 Bucharest NATO Summit, the Embassy posted statements by Ambassador Khalilzad, AS Fried, and Senator Biden on the USG's support for MAP status for Georgia on the Embassy website. ¶6. Meanwhile, inside Georgia, our public diplomacy and media strategies shifted to emphasizing all that we have done for the people of Georgia. Ambassador Tefft gave an interview on February 14 to Radio Liberty focused on providing the broadest possible picture of U.S. government support to the people of Georgia. He cited USAID, the work of the Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation as examples. On February 29, the Ambassador showcased USG support for Georgian wine-producers under USAID's Ag-vantage program after three Georgian wine producers signed contracts to sell their products in the U.S. On March 6, the Ambassador helped open the newly-restored Police Academy, and Georgian media highlighted the Embassy's role in the renovation and in introducing English language training for police at the Academy. On March 13, the Ambassador presented a local NGO activist with the Embassy's Woman of Courage award. All events received broad media coverage. After the Radio Liberty interview, listeners phoned the station to express their gratitude for everything the U.S. Government has done for Georgia. Cultural Diplomacy in the Conflict Zones - Jazz as a Symbol of Freedom and Liberty ------------------------------------------- ¶7. The Embassy also used the March 30 - April 6 visit of Cultural Envoys Joel Harrison, the Artistic Director of the American Pianists Association (APA), and Dan Tepfer, the APA's 2007 Cole Porter Fellow in Jazz, to emphasize people-to-people ties and to bring an American cultural experience to the regions and conflict areas of Georgia. Throughout western Georgia, Dan and Joel performed and conducted master classes including in Sokhumi, the capital of the disputed region of Abkhazia. For the concert in Zugdidi, the local governor arranged for a group of 30 ethnic Georgian high school students from across the line of control in Gali, southern Abkhazia, to attend the conc ert. In Tbilisi on April 5, the Ambassador, in partnership with TBILISI 00000682 002 OF 002 the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Minister of Refugees, invited 80 school students from the Georgian administered regions of South Ossetia to attend a concert in the Embassy Atrium followed by lunch at McDonald's and a visit to the Tbilisi zoo. For most of these children, it was their first visit to Tbilisi, not to mention their first McDonald's happy meal, events widely and positively covered by the national media. DAS Graffy's Visit - Outreach to the Georgian People via the Media --------------------------------------------- ------ ¶8. The visit of EUR's DAS for Public Diplomacy, Colleen Graffy, April 5 - 11, provided additional opportunities for Embassy Tbilisi to emphasize soft power and our contributions to the people of Georgia. Graffy's visit was widely covered by the local and national media, and highlighted our American Corners program; our support for Georgian NGOs and educational institutions; our Democracy Commission small grants programs; independent media; and USG exchange program alumni. ¶9. In particular, the Embassy used Graffy's visit to show respect for recent Georgian history. On April 9, a local holiday commemorating the Georgians killed and wounded by Soviet soldiers in a melee following a protest rally in 1989, but also the date that symbolizes the beginning of Georgia's freedom and independence from Soviet rule, DAS Graffy visited the Church of Ateni Sioni outside of Tbilisi. While at the church, DAS Graffy viewed the restoration works conducted with funding from the Department of State's Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation and commented to the media on the USG's support for Georgia's cultural heritage. Later that same day, Graffy visited the Museum of the Soviet Occupation and gave statements to the media on the significance of April 9. Media coverage of these visits commemorated the victims of April 9; emphasized the U.S.'s role in preserving the national icon of the Ateni Sioni church; and also served to remind Georgians of the strong U.S. support for Georgian democracy and freedom. COMMENT: -------- ¶10. Anecdotal evidence indicates that this soft diplomacy approach has been effective in Georgia. While we can't claim full credit for this, opposition politicians have reduced anti-American statements after seeing it doesn't resonate with the Georgia public. At the same time, members of the Georgian government have made strong public statements thanking the U.S. for our support of Georgia, and members of the public have echoed these sentiments to us privately. And, our contacts uniformly tell us how much they appreciate our cultural outreach efforts in the conflict zones. TEFFT
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