Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

You're Being Lied to About the Muslim Riots: Commentary

Brian Lilley of the Canadian media outlet Sun News offers this brutally honest and brave account of what really took place around the Muslim world on and around this past September 11th.

Thank you Mr. Lilley for having the guts to take an honest look at these horrific situations -- meaning both the murderous attacks as well as the gutless and mindless mainstream media coverage of (and the Obama administration's response to) these global events. -- Steve Peacock

Data on Desires of Middle Eastern TV-News Viewers Sought

 

Viewer choices of TV news sources in the Middle East—particularly in the aftermath of the Arab Spring—are about to be evaluated by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which also will assess recent promotional efforts for its Alhurra TV operations.

Specific to Middle Eastern consumer preferences, BBG will enlist private-contractor services to obtain answers to the questions:

• To what extent is brand identity a driver of the choice of TV stations for news?
• What are some of the brand identities for TV news audiences view positively? Negatively?
• How do audiences learn about these brands?
• What are some of the differences in preferences by country or demographic groups?
• What is the role of content in shaping perceptions of the TV news brands?
• What is the news and information content audiences are looking for in the wake of the Arab spring?
• Which TV channels do they believe are providing this content? Why?
• To what extent are audiences getting this news from non-TV sources such as the internet, radio, newspapers, etc?
• What attracts them to these sources?

The 2^nd phase of the project will focus on the outcome of its new 30 second TV advertisement campaign, “I am the news. I am Alhurra.” (see YouTube frame above). The goal of that study segment will be to:

examine the identity the advertisement conveys and the extent to which the advertisement promotes an image consistent with audience preferences, along with the implications for future marketing and advertising efforts.

BBG requires the selected contractor to conduct a region-wide assessment, but will consider proposals "to limit the research to Egypt, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia, as long as the offeror submits a regional assessment as well.”

Source document:  Solicitation #BBG50-R-12-0022.

OTHER BBG COVERAGE:

U.S. Baseball as a Propaganda Tool? (Feb. 17, 2012)

U.S. Seeks Data on Libyan Media Consumption (Nov. 5, 2011)

U.S. Cancels Planned Media Barrage in Pakistan (Nov. 1, 2011)

FOR FURTHER COVERAGE OF INFORMATION-DISSEMINATION ISSUES, SEE THE MONITOR’S PROPAGANDA/PR PAGE.

USAID Extends Deadline for Egyptian G&T Student Project

The deadline to submit proposals for a U.S.-funded project assisting Egyptian gifted & talented student programs has been extended to Nov. 12. As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor previously reported, the U.S. Agency for International Development is seeking contractors capable of providing technical assistance to the Egyptian Ministry of Education, which wants to build additional facilities after recently opening its first school for advanced science, math, and technology high school students. (See "Feds Step in to Help Gifted Science, Tech, and Math Students"; Monitor, Oct. 19, 2011).

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S EGYPT PAGE AND AFRICA PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR’S EDUCATION PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

Feds Step in to Help Gifted Science, Tech, and Math Students

Having recognized “the importance of building a strong human resource capital base of Science, Technology and Mathematics (STM) professionals for a country’s ability to compete globally,” the U.S. government is taking action… in Egypt. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) therefore is seeking bids from private contractors to provide "technical assistance" to the Egyptian Ministry of Education, which last month opened its first STM specialty school.

The government of Egypt likewise is looking to build more of such schools for its gifted students—and U.S. taxpayers will bear the cost of helping it “strengthen the quality and management” of the new institution as well as replicating “this type of specialized education in other parts of Egypt,” according to a solicitation (#263-12-0001) posted today to the FedBizOpps database.

As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor recently reported, USAID separately is weighing the possibility of financing the creation of nationwide community college system in Egypt (Monitor, Sept. 19, 2011).

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S EGYPT PAGE AND AFRICA PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR’S EDUCATION PAGE.

Feds Eye Possible Expansion of 2-Year Colleges Across Nation

The expansion of community-college systems nationwide could improve students’ career options while supporting economic growth, according to the Obama Administration. Consequently, the federal government is exploring the possibility of financing such a modernization project—not in the United States, but in Egypt.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today issued a request for quotations (#263-11-003) from vendors capable of conducting an assessment of the “legal, technical, managerial and financial feasibility of establishing community colleges in Egypt.”

According to a Statement of Work (SOW) for the endeavor, “The U.S. Secretary of State has indicated her desire to enter into partnership with the Government of Egypt (GOE) to create a network of branded, American-style community colleges in Egypt, with appropriate modifications for the local context.”

The State Dept. and USAID have not yet decided whether to finance an Egypt-wide community college network. Hence, the primary task of the contractor-led study “is to assess whether establishing American-style community colleges is a feasible investment for the U.S. Government (USG) given the current context in Egypt.”

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S EGYPT PAGE.

U.S. Seeks New Means of Predicting Internet Growth Overseas, from Albania to Zimbabwe

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is looking for a contractor capable of developing a new analytical model to predict Internet usage and growth in thirty-two foreign nations, from "A" (Albania) to "Z" (Zimbabwe).

The agency, which runs U.S. government-funded international broadcasting systems such as Voice of America and Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, said in a Statement of Work (Solicitation #BBG50-R-11-0020) that existing models for predicting growth are inadequate. The SOW said those models solely focus on specific technology sectors rather than the Internet in its entirety:

The ultimate goal is to estimate, using empirical data, the expansion of the number of unique individuals using the Internet on a weekly basis in these markets over the next five years. While various organizations have produced such estimates and prejections for sub-segments of the Internet market, such as mobile Internet use or fixed line broadband, BBG requires estimates of the growth of the entire Internet market, regardless of platform, including use via public access facilities.

Although the BBG attempted to justifiy why it wants a new predictive model, it did not specify why it needs -- nor what it intends to do -- with such a new mode of analysis. The agency said it would apply the model to Internet usage in the following nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam,  Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The BBG said the selected contractor should be able to complete the work within an eight-week period. It did not offer an estimated cost of the project.

U.S. to Bring Education Officials & Leaders to America

A delegation of Egyptian officials and educational leaders are coming to America to observe the operation of science, technology, and mathematics magnet schools—and U.S. taxpayers will foot the entire bill.

“President Obama discussed the importance of education and science and technology in his famous June 2009 Cairo University speech,” the project solicitation emphasizes. “In Egypt, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of science and mathematics education in the pre-university education system.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is responsible for this Observational Study Tour (OST), is recruiting potential contractors to coordinate the one-week trip, which is tentatively slated for August or September.

According to a solicitation that USAID uploaded to the Federal Business Opportunities database this past Sunday, international studies conducted in Egypt in 2003 and 2007 indicate “serious weaknesses” in math and science education “both in absolute terms and relative to other Middle Eastern and Arab nations in the region.”

Consequently, U.S. citizens will fund activities such as the OST “that will eventually better prepare [Egyptian] students for careers in the 21st century.”

The selected contractor will be responsible for purchasing international tickets from and back to Egypt, domestic tickets within the U.S, providing other forms of domestic transportation, lodging and meals, securing U.S. visas and arranging visitor fingerprinting at the U.S. Embassy, the provision of interpreter and technical escort services, plus “any other unforeseeable expenses.” The contractor likewise will provide relevant tour materials and hold a series of workshops.

Source document: Solicitation #263-11-000092.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S EDUCATION PAGE.

USAID Contractor Killed in Iraq Leaves Behind Wife, Three Children

Despite whatever criticisms that may be leveled at many U.S. foreign assistance programs, U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor expresses its condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the late Dr. Stephen Everhart. The U.S. State Dept. on June 23 announced that Everhart, described as an "international development and finance expert," was killed and three others injured in a terrorist attack that took place "while working on a project to introduce a new business curriculum to a Baghdad university..."

Everhart, a former managing director of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), for the past two years had been associate dean of the American University in Cairo's (AUC) School of Finance.

AUC said in statement:

A dedicated member of our community and a model representative of our University, Steve worked with skill, humor and unflagging devotion to utilize the resources of AUC to nurture entrepreneurs and business leaders across the Middle East, and particularly, of course, in Egypt.

The university also said Everhart "leaves his wife, Stephanie, and three children, Lindsay, a student at AUC, Hannah and Cooper."