QF’s Doha Debates hosts town hall on how to build a better future

Doha, Qatar: As the global liberal order faces challenges in the form of shifting power and ongoing international conflicts, Doha Debates town hall a...

Doha, Qatar: As the global liberal order faces challenges in the form of shifting power and ongoing international conflicts, Doha Debates’ town hall at Qatar National Convention Centre on December 6 posed a vital question to a panel of experts and students: What ideas and values are essential to building a better world?

Titled “Global order: Which principles should shape our future?”, the town hall examined the competing values that underpin our societies and asked which of them will help us create a more equitable, peaceful world.

Hosted by journalist Femi Oke and held in partnership with Doha Forum, the lively and wide-ranging conversation covered a number of critical issues, including the future of liberalism and American foreign policy, essential human rights, the capabilities of the nation state and the influence of BRICS on the global order.

The expert panel of speakers featured Victor Gao, vice president of the Center for China and Globalization; Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s former foreign minister; and Vali Nasr, a leading scholar of international affairs. An onstage audience of students and recent graduates from campuses across Doha asked questions of the panel and contributed their own perspectives to the conversation.

Gao opened by advocating for China’s development-first model: “In China, we have a saying: If you want to be rich, build a road,” he said. “I think the choice is very clear. Let’s really put a focus on development, stability, peace, and always believe in development as the hard truth, the softer truth and the smart truth.”