U.S. education rising from Arab sands - msnbc.com

Abou-Ismail is one of hundreds of Middle Eastern students drawn to Qatar’s Education City, a 2,500-acre piece of desert being transformed into a world class educational facility — populated by U.S. institutions like Cornell, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon and Virginia Commonwealth University.

“In the long run, this will definitely affect the way the Middle East in general will view the United States,” Abou-Ismail said. “Education in itself is a good thing, so definitely it changes (the perception of the United States) in a good way.”

Winning over Arab public

With the war in Iraq grinding on and U.S. foreign policy perceived as hostile toward the Arab world, Education City is an apparent public relations success amid a string of failed U.S. efforts to win over the Arab public.

In this case, the U.S. government isn’t paying a penny. Qatar’s education reforms are the brainchild of Sheikha Moza, Qatar’s first lady who focuses her efforts on challenging deeply held traditions and building a more democratic society.

“Having these academic programs represents only the beautiful face of America,” Sheikha Moza said in an interview. “There are a lot of good things from America that we should adopt.”

The American University of Sharjah (UAE), which started in 1997, is another example in the Gulf region. It currently has approximately 4,000 undergraduate students and 200 faculty. Students come from the UAE (nationals and ex pats), GCC countries, Iran, other Arab countries, and from around the world. Faculty represent many countries from around the world. The vast majority earned their PhDs in the US.