Forum calls for bridging gap between masses and elites

Dubai: The Arab Strategy Forum concluded yesterday on "an urgently required" note to bridge the gap between regional governments and "the Arab street," and the even bigger gap between the masses and the elites.

But issues of interest to the masses were totally absent from the 3-day conference.

The call came from many, including leading US commentator David Ignatius, who warned fellow panellists at the closing session that the gap was dangerous.

Minutes later, he and other experts moved on to discuss more appropriate "elitist" issues ranging from State vs Militias and Islamists vs Liberals to Al Jazeera's latest venture into English media.

Despite his complaint, and others by members of the elite club attending the conference, including political and business leaders, there was really no trace of issues relevant to the masses - the ordinary Arab who bears the brunt of policies discussed in the forum.

Burning issues such as the rising levels of poverty in most Arab states, the growing rate of unemployment and the alienation of the old-fashioned working class failed to make it to the speaker's podiums in the forum, which was described as "a total success" by the organisers, Ignatius and veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.

A passing comment by US-based researcher Omar Hamzawy on the need for "a new social project" to restore the masses' trust in government went unnoticed.