In a recent Asharq Al-Awsat article, Dr. Mamoun Fandy pointed out that in order to enrich the arena of culture and thought in the Arab and Muslim World which helps policy makers and strategic planners, intellectuals and writers should establish a dialogue that could lead to ‘virtual brainstorming’.
Many opinion articles by Arab writers are intellectually rich and can contribute to generating good ideas for communities, to counter, for example, ‘innovative’ terrorist ideologies.
We certainly do not write in a vacuum, but we need to make sure that our messages are heard in order to engage in the problem-solving of Arab and regional issues that become more complex day by day..
I am not exaggerating if I say that I sometimes find in the reader comments wonderful ideas and insights and analyzes about political events and strategic issues. So I think that virtual networking between writers and between them and their readers may be a necessary step to take advantage of this huge number of ideas that arise across hundreds of media outlets and that move in parallel paths.
Some readers engage in the idea of dialogue more than authors do and this is certainly positive. Following the readers’ feedback on articles of opinion is sometimes more fun than reading the article itself, in presence of a broad spectrum of ideological and political and religious opinions. The comments mirror the community.
Identifying the public trends has scientific methodology. Famous Internet sites have a relatively standard audience formed according to ownership, the nature of the medium, the techniques, the policies, and compatibility with readers. Another variable is the presence of ‘e-situation rooms’ of groups and movements that control debates and direct dialogues.
The dialogue can be established between opinion writers on similar issues. Some cultural obstacles may be encountered, for example, Arab sensitivities. In conferences, seminars and even televised talk shows, many do focus more on victory of personal opinion. They see the likelihood of the other’s opinion a personal defeat for them, always seeking intellectual knock outs.
This problematic in dialogue is linked to cultural backgrounds that should be dismantled through gradual educative processes. Accepting the opinions of others and recognizing the right of criticism are cultural matters that are constructed over the years and do not emerge out of the blue. They represent a cultural, intellectual and educational system that forms part of a broader social order based on dialogue and debate, a practice already established in several traditional Arab societies, like the traditional councils in the Arab Gulf.
In the West, we find some of the ideas and perceptions published in prestigious scientific journals and revolve around extensive discussions and by researchers, journalists and opinion leaders in the communities. The results of these discussions illuminate politicians and planners strategies,. This is quite rare in the Arab world due to the weakness of the culture of dialogue, or perhaps because many practice writing as ‘ars gratia artis’, or for personal profit, not a serious form of expression that contributes to social evolution.
Difference of opinion is normal and cannot be debated. But the dialogue between writers can help finding solutions to crises. For example, there are tens of thousands of opinion articles published about vital issues such as terrorism, education, unemployment, corruption, illiteracy, ignorance and other epidemics sweeping the Arab and Muslim worlds. However, no strategy is clear about how to use them in the fight against these phenomena that sometimes develop into extremism and terrorism.
Dialogue on the Arab intellectual, media and academic scene is an exit strategy from backwardness and cultural degeneration that turn into chaos and ruin in the region.
