“There is an extremism premium that is being paid across the planet and we all believe this is a moment of opportunity, and the question is whether we’re going to seize it,” said John F. Kerry, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Senator from Massachusetts (Democrat), USA, at a plenary session on security at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East.
He told leaders that the “greatest security challenge comes back to less of an economic challenge and more of a political challenge that we are facing.” The Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies at the heart of this political challenge. “And that’s what makes this moment so special. If we can tone down the rhetoric in the street and prepare people for peace, the climate for business in the future will change dramatically, and that will empower us in all other places like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan,” Kerry continued.
“I think we are delighted to hear of the commitment of the new US administration to devote attention to the solution of the [Israeli-Palestinian] issue that could be the deadly cancer of humankind,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. The panellists agreed that issues of human security are complex and must go hand in hand with politics, while business and political leaders have to partner to solve all these issues.
“Governments by themselves cannot give us solutions and it’s a matter of partnership in order to promote development. There are a lot of challenges that have to be faced now in this crisis in order for the Arab world to emerge stronger,” said Hanadi N. Al Thani, Founder and Chairperson, Amwal, Qatar. She stressed the region’s youth must be empowered to bolster security, as they account for a third of the Arab world’s population.
Values are a crucial factor for future prosperity and peace, said H.H. Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain. “A value system that underpins a decision-making process is the most important thing,” he said.
Prime Minister Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif of Egypt agreed that cultural differences are growing and driving people apart, “even within borders where ethnic, religious or tribal differences are a big threat to security and development … Whatever we’ve been doing has fostered extremism on all sides. We need to reverse this and I take it back to the fact that you can only do so by giving people a stake, making the moderates dominant and investing in things like employment and infrastructure.”
Watch the session and read the press release
