Regional cooperation in education in the Near East

America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST) proposes a three-phase plan for cooperation through a trilateral commission including the U.S. In the initial phase, contacts would be exploratory, undertaken with U.S. assistance. Projects would be small-scale, with low visibility, small numbers of participants, for relatively short periods of time. Funding would be modest. Phase two would be initiated by the trilateral commission after a trial period of three to five years for the projects in phase one. Success of phase one projects would assure continuity of contracts between participants into phase two. With an atmosphere conducive to further cooperation developed, the three countries participating in the trilateral commission would be prepared for longer term commitments to larger, more concrete projects, with more participants and greater funds. Some of these projects will include cultural exchanges, joint textbook surveys, language training institutes, institutes for study of pre-modern culture, teacher education, joint scientific research, and exchanges of mass media techniques, educational television programs, and audiovisual materials. Projects undertaken in phases one and two form the basis of phase three. By the time participants would be ready for phase three, a decade of close ties between Egypt and Israel would have passed. Cultural and educational cooperation and exhanges will have become common. Derivative from the original trilateral commission will be numerous sub-commissions, some operating bilaterally, others continuing to function with representatives of the three countries. Two major expectations of phase three include the establishment of a Sinai University and of regional research institutes associated with the university.