UAE | Government
Arab Strategy Forum to bridge politician-intellectual gap
Al Hattlan says Arab Strategy forum will help bridge gap between politicians and intellectuals .
- By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 October 27, 2009
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
- Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan, CEO, Arab Strategy Forum, during an interview with Gulf News at his office in Dubai.
Dubai: The recently re-launched Arab Strategy Forum (ASF) hopes to bridge the gap between decision makers and intellectuals in the Arab world and to pave the way for reform in education and knowledge policies in the region.
Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan, Chief Executive Officer of the Forum, discusses the new format of the forum in an interview with Gulf News.
Gulf News: What is the Arab Strategy Forum? What are its goals and how does it differ from other such forums that are held in Dubai?
Dr Al Hattlan: Our immediate goal is to institutionalise the discussions of the ASF. We need to link our discussions to a knowledge product, such as the Arab Knowledge Report, a joint project between the Mohammad Bin Rashid Foundation (MBRF) and the United Nations Development Programme that will be launched during the ASF. We also need to ensure that the discussion on the topics discussed continues.
We would also like to create a bridge between intellectuals in the Arab world and decision makers. We feel there is a huge gap between the two groups and this is not healthy for human development in the region. Therefore our platform should provide creative ways to bring these groups to debate and talk about critical matters, and hopefully the intellectuals could contribute to the decision making process.
How serious is this gap between decision makers and intellectuals in the region, and what can it be attributed to?
Well, it has been said that there is mistrust between politicians and intellectuals in the Arab world. We feel the damage [to development] was severe because of the disconnection between the two parties, and that's why we all need to work together.
We need to create trust and find ways to implement great ideas by intellectuals. These intellectuals do not have the power to implement their ideas. If we create such a bridge, this might have an impact on the development of knowledge and education in the region.
There are a variety of reasons for this gap. One of them was that there was no platform to bring the two parties together. Intellectuals used to live in their own worlds and they would just look at things from a distance, whereas politicians, in the recent history of the Arab world, always felt that intellectuals spoke a different language. They felt that intellectuals would challenge them or compete with them, therefore they felt it was a good idea to keep them "pontificating" alone.
Now I think the decision makers in the region have realised that it is not a risk to talk to intellectuals and work with them.
When young Arab decision makers started going to the World Economic Forum at Davos and saw intellectuals, decision makers and chief executives from the private sector sit together and debate different developmental issues, they thought ‘why can't we do it in the Arab world?'. That's why I think ASF took place the first time to create a Davos for the Arab world.
This is an Arab platform, organised by Arabs, for Arabs, to debate Arab issues.
Has there been much enthusiasm for the ASF among decision makers since it was launched? And how long do the relationships between the two groups last once the forum is over?
I think both Arab intellectuals and politicians have realised the need for communication between each other. We have very positive responses so far. We witnessed that Arab politicians and decision makers were very excited to join the stage with intellectuals and even listen to their criticism on issues relevant to education, reform and political experiences in the Arab world.
But we have a long way to go. We are hoping that what we are doing is creating a culture of dialogue. We still need more platforms. Some people think one conference will solve all the problems with education or knowledge in the Arab world but there are major challenges around us and we have to start now to create that depth in understanding the need to speed the process and welcome criticism and embrace the idea of asking critical questions.
A number of intellectuals in the Arab world have been ostracised and given labels that have pushed them to the sidelines for having views differing from the mainstream. Would decision makers welcome those kind of intellectuals?
Some have been welcomed and been criticised [at the same time]. Unfortunately it has been a problem for all Arabs — labelling people and creating these negative connotations. But regardless of all the challenges, we have to create these platforms for experts and intellectuals regardless of their intellectual orientation. We need to teach people that we have a diversity of ideas, a diversity of thinking and schools of thought. We have to accept that and live with it and look at the advantage of such diversity in our societies.
What do you make of the state of education and literacy in the Arab world?
The more delay we have in reforming education, the more problems we create for our societies. We really have to catch up with new technologies and a new way of thinking of the advanced world. Regardless of some minor improvements in the Arab world the challenges are still serious and the risk [of neglecting it] is still huge. I don't want to sound negative but it's too early for us to be optimistic.
We in the Arab world have been talking a lot about reform but we haven't actually started the reform itself. We need to start the reform and stop talking about the need for reform.
Background: Creation of the Forum
The Arab Strategy Forum (ASF) was launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2001.
According to Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan, Chief Executive Officer of the ASF, the objective was to create a platform for constructive dialogue and debate on critical issues relevant to human development in the Arab world.
In 2007, Shaikh Mohammad launched the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) at the World Economic Forum in Jordan with a $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) fund, and the ASF was subsequently brought under its umbrella due to shared objectives.
The ASF has now been relaunched, and according to Dr Hattlan, there is a need to focus on topics that are relevant to knowledge and human development in the region.
"Our main themes will be relevant to knowledge and human development. Our mid-term goal is to create a think tank in Dubai to serve these issues.
"Our audience is in the entire Arab world and that's why we decided for 2010 to go to some Arab capitals to promote and also study and talk about the implications of the Arab Knowledge Report on the capitals of these countries.
"Now we think the time has come to have more focus on certain topics. I think it's time to bring the right people to talk about the right topics. That's why we need to limit the participation, of at least this event, to 400 people, with 30 speakers and six main sessions that will take place."
The two-day forum will start on Wednesday.
Media veteran
Dr Sulaiman Al Hattlan is the Chief Executive Officer of Arab Strategy Forum.
In addition to his current role in guiding the knowledge sharing platform in the Arab world, Dr Al Hattlan is also a Senior Consultant to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and a Member of the Global Agenda Summit Council of the World Economic Forum.
A media veteran, Dr Al Hattlan has experience in GCC and Arab policies, international affairs, the global economy and globalisation.
Prior to joining MBRF, Dr Sulaiman was Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Arabia and the Chairman of Forbes CEO Middle East Forum. In 2005, Dr Al Hattlan served as the international media consultant for the municipal elections in Saudi Arabia.
During 2002-2004, he was the Public Affairs and International Media Advisor to the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
Dr Al Hattlan has also worked with the US-television channel ABC News and participated in the production of media projects on the Arab world, in partnership with international media companies.
He has published analytical articles in newspapers including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Miami Herald, as well as various newspapers across the GCC and the US.
He continues to write weekly columns for several newspapers in the GCC region and hosts a current affairs programme on Al Hurra TV.
A recipient of the Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University in the US, Dr Al Hattlan holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.
He also has a dual Master's degree from Marshalls University and Georgetown University in the US.
In addition to holding a PhD in Communications from the Howard University, he received a Post-Doctorate from the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard.
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