Share Story
AMMAN — HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal, chairman of the Arab Thought Forum, on Tuesday participated in an intellectual seminar entitled “The nation-state as an Arab horizon,” which discussed a range of intellectual and political issues related to the concept of the nation-state and the challenges it faces in the contemporary Arab context, with the attendance of a select group of Arab thinkers and researchers.
The seminar explored several pivotal issues, including citizenship as a cornerstone of the modern state, the citizen’s role at the centre of the nation-state, and the intellectual and political shifts affecting Arab societies in light of regional and international changes, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Prince Hassan opened his speech by discussing the challenges of modernity and the modern state, stressing the difference between modernity and reform, urging that modernity be understood as a framework of ideas and values rather than simply technical or material aspects.
Prince Hassan also drew attention to what he described as “cantons,” referring to narrow, exclusionary discourses that foster polarisation and hatred, warning of the threat they pose to national cohesion and social unity. He stressed that the modern state is built not on division, but on pluralism anchored in citizenship and human dignity.
The prince emphasised the importance of human capital as a cornerstone for building the modern state, underlined the need for continuous dialogue as a means of managing differences, highlighted the pivotal role of youth in shaping the future, and stressed the importance of redefining “our Eastern identity while strengthening self-reliance.”
He also highlighted the importance of reaching people through precise scientific tools, including the Multidimensional Deprivation Index used in several countries, for its role in understanding social and economic realities more deeply, and emphasised that human dignity is the common denominator, with the dignity of society deriving from that of its individuals.
The Arab Thought Forum, chaired and patronised by Prince Hassan, is a non-governmental Arab intellectual organisation established in 1981 following the 11th Arab Summit, on the initiative of a group of Arab thinkers and decision-makers.
The forum aims to analyse the Arab reality and anticipate its future, offering practical solutions and policy options through a free platform for dialogue that contributes to shaping contemporary Arab thought on issues of unity, development, national security, liberation and progress. The forum’s secretariat is based in Amman.
