The cover of the second issue of "Hi"

WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S.-funded Arabic-language "Hi" magazine has its eyes on young Arabs who will lead their countries in the future, a leading U.S. newspaper reported Saturday, August 9, quoting an American diplomat.

"It's good to get them in a dialogue while their opinions are not fully formed on matters large and small," the Washington Post quoted as saying Christopher W.S. Ross, special coordinator for public diplomacy at the State Department.

"This is a long-term way to build a relationship with people who will be the future leaders of the Arab world," he stressed.

"The U.S. government has a message for young Arabs: Hi," read the headline of a  Washington Post article, in reference to the new monthly glossy, which is financed by the State Department and made its debut in July to target Arabs aged 18 to 35.

The move was largely seen as part of earnest efforts by the White House to shine up the already tarnished image of the U.S. in the eyes of the Arab world.

But, Arab-American analysts counter that the U.S. had better review its biased foreign policy rather than publish a new lifestyle magazine, said the American daily.

U.S. diplomatic sources said that the U.S. administration has earmarked an annual budget of $ 4.2 million for "Hi".

Last year, the U.S. administration launched the Arabic-language Radio Sawa, which broadcasts a mix of Western and Arab pop music along with news bulletins and reports, and is one of the projects created by the White House Office of Global Communications.

'Apolitical'

Although the Washington-edited "Hi" has a statement printed on each issue that it is published "on behalf of the foreign media office of the United States State Department," it steers clear of politics, not to mention the widely disapproved U.S. foreign policy and hegemony on the world, including the invasion of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"This is a lifestyle magazine," argues Fadel Lamen, Hi's Libyan American managing editor.

"It's a new phenomenon in the Arab world to do a lifestyle magazine that doesn't touch on the political."

Ross, for his part, says : "There are plenty of political magazines. This is, in a very subtle way, a vehicle for American values. There have been people in Congress who have said, 'Why can't we explain our American values?' Well, here is one way to do that."

"The State Department conceived of the magazine after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks," added Ross, a former ambassador to Syria and Algeria who is fluent in Arabic.

Samir Husni, a Lebanese American professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi, who was hired as a consulting editor for "Hi," said the monthly cast a spotlight on the positive sides of the U.S. community and avoid tackling its problems.

"It's not going to have in-depth investigative pieces on the problems of America. We're emphasizing the positive things," said Husni.

"It's like a Reader's Digest of America -- a Cliffs Notes of what's going on in America from the American point of view."

In its premiere issue, a spokeswoman for the State Department said "Hi" is primarily aimed at rooting out the hatred feelings harbored by Arabs for the U.S., spotlighting the similarities between the Arab and American youths and getting Arab youths to fall for American lifestyle.

This issue allotted a free space advertising for American universities, which have witnessed a drop in the number of Arab students since the 9/11 attacks.

'The Wrong Problem'

But the Arab community in the U.S contends that the U.S. administration is addressing the wrong problem by trying to beautify its tarnished image through a series of publications and radio programs, noting that the main problem lies in the U.S. double-standard foreign policy.

"The problem with young Arabs is not how they perceive U.S. culture or the American way of life," says Mohammed Nawawy, an Egyptian-born journalism professor at Stonehill College in Massachusetts and co-author of a book on the Aljazeera TV network.

"They're watching American movies and wearing American jeans and lining up to get visas to come to the United States. The problem is how they perceive United States foreign policy, and that can only be changed by actions on the ground in Iraq and Israel," he added.

Samer Shehata, who teaches at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, echoes the same opinion.

He, like Nawawy, believes that Arabs do not hate America or American culture, but loathe its foreign policy toward the Middle East.

"A magazine directed at Arab youth, regardless of how well done, will not convince people otherwise," he averred, referring to the eye-catching glossy magazine.

Speaking to IslamOnline.net last week, Jordanian journalist Sameh al-Mueittah described the new publication as "a PR campaign by the United States to beautify its stained image in the eyes of the Arab and Muslim worlds after the 9/11 attacks."

He was also skeptic about the success of "Hi," noting that the U.S. embassy in Amman had in vain tried to win the hearts of the Jordanian people.

"If the Americans issued and aired a myriad of Arab-directed magazines and radios, they would never succeed in changing anything," he said.

The magazine features stories on many issues, including pop songs, Arab singers, e-matchmaking, digital art, and the different ethnic communities in the States.

Thus far, the magazine is distributed in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Israel, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

Hi's publishers are still seeking permission to sell the magazine in Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Now, circulation is only 50,000 but the State Department hopes to expand that to 250,000, said the Washington Post.

The Washington-based company which produces "Hi" – the Magazine Group – also publishes magazines for bodies, such as the National Concrete Masonry Association and Jewish Women International group.  It will cost American taxpayers about $4 million a year.