The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington is in high dudgeon over Daniel Pipes's August 10 column, which ran in The New York Sun under the headline, "The Saudis' Covert P.R. Campaign." The embassy put out a press release saying that Mr. Pipes's article speculates that Saudi Arabia pays five Middle East experts — two former American ambassadors to Riyadh, Walter Cutler and Richard Murphy, and Sandra Mackey, Mary Morris, and Samer Shehata — to speak on its behalf as part of a program the embassy characterizes as an effort to educate Americans about relations between Saudi Arabia and America." This is absolutely not true," the embassy says, adding: "Neither the government of Saudi Arabia nor any public relations firm compensates these individuals for their activities."
Well, not directly, it seems. But there's a lot more truth to Mr. Pipes's report than to the Saudi press release. For it turns out that while the Saudis do not pay the speakers directly, its public relations firm has been out trying to line up speaking gigs for them and offering to cover the expenses the host institution might incur in the way of honoraria and travel expenses. For a glimpse of how they operate, we commend to our readers a recent statement from Professor Charles Lipson, who teaches political science at the University of Chicago and also directs a speakers program there. The p.r. firm contacted Mr. Lipson in June in hopes of placing a speaker at the University of Chicago.
"We have numerous spokespersons who are committed to listening and engaging in open and honest discussions as part of this effort, and are doing so at their own expense," said an e-mail on the subject of "speakers' bureau" sent to Mr. Lipson by one Sarah Burleson of a Qorvis public relations affiliate called Adelstein and Associates, representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She listed the five individuals Mr. Pipes named, calling them "potential speakers with whom we may coordinate for one of your events," After receiving the e-mail, Mr. Lipson spoke with Ms. Burleson. He says she was "friendly, competent, and professional" and "explicitly referred to all five speakers as 'allies' of Saudi Arabia."
She also discussed financial arrangements. He says: "I explained that our speakers' program normally paid for all our speakers' travel expenses and gave them a modest honorarium. I added that our normal academic honorarium of $250 might be too small for some of these highranking former U.S. officials. At that point, she informed me that the p.r. firms would be paying all expenses, including travel and any associated honoraria, and that my speakers' program would not have to pay anything at all. I did not explicitly ask whether these speakers received any fees directly or indirectly from the Saudi government, Saudi businesses, or Saudi philanthropies for this work, and she did not say."
We reached all of the speakers listed in Ms. Burleson's wire [e-mail] to Mr. Lipson. All five denied not only being paid by the Saudis but even being aware that the Saudis were trying to line up speaking engagements for them, let alone offering to reimburse the host institution for their expenses and honoraria. We don't lack regard for these individuals, who have every right to express their views. No doubt they would take umbrage at being called "spokespersons" in a wire from the Saudis regime's p.r. people. By our lights it all adds up to a lesson in Saudi methods, courtesy of the inestimable Daniel Pipes.
