Knowledge and education are key components of Qatar’s National Vision 2030
Georgetown University and the Doha Debates have a common touchstone: the Qatar Foundation. The Foundation, an institution dedicated to the advancement of a knowledge-based society through education, research, and community development, supports the Doha Debates as part of its effort to encourage the sharing of knowledge and ideas. Through the vigorous debate of issues that are important to the communities of Qatar and its Middle Eastern neighbors, new knowledge and insights are gained, and voices of reason have the potential to emerge to solve problems that often appear intractable. In the U.S., the Georgetown School of Foreign Service has long been a deep well of talent from which successive new generations of policy leaders emerge.
Since 2005, the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar) has been accepting students to study at its Education City, Qatar branch campus, offering a full four-year program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree that is identical to its Washington campus degree. The Qatar Foundation is committed to nurturing and developing the skills and knowledge in international politics necessary to support Qatar’s increasing influence in the Middle East and the world, and the SFS-Qatar program is a testament to that commitment.
The world of foreign policy is, of course, often a contentious and controversial place, reflecting passionate beliefs about issues where opposing sides of the issue often find it hard to come to reasonable solutions to problems. Certainly, that is not new news to anyone who is a veteran of Middle Eastern policies. What the Doha Debates attempt to provide is a positive, civil forum for discourse where the arguments may be intense but the level of discourse is respectful and civilized. “It’s true that the debates are not a polite chat over tea,” says moderator Sebastian. “We adhere to the Oxford Union custom of ‘agreeing to disagree’ – a civil but intensely argued debate.”
In this way, the debates hope to serve as a voice of reason that can perhaps over time bring together existing polarities of opinion and help the communities and societies in the Middle East advance and grow in a positive direction. This is very much in keeping with the Qatar Foundation’s commitment to a knowledge-based society and is a fundamental part of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, a comprehensive plan to manage the country’s growth in a way that optimizes its human, social, economic, and environmental assets – and, in the process, moving Qatar beyond an economy reliant on oil and gas.
The Doha Debates are about knowledge, knowledge derives from education, and education is at the core of Qatar’s ambitious plan to transform its society in a manner respectful of the country’s cultural and religious traditions, while mindful of the need to use its abundant economic resources wisely and judiciously in a manner that safeguards the environment. The ultimate goal of this plan is the development of ever-higher standards of living for Qatar’s citizens: as a result of significant investments in education, Qataris will have the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the many challenges of the coming years, ensuring a robust, sustainable economy that is no longer reliant on oil and gas. These human, social, economic, and environmental objectives are the pillars on which the National Vision 2030 rests and on which the transition to an advanced knowledge-based society are based.
The commitment to education is visible in a very real sense. Qatar’s Education City is center to a number of premier schools with advanced programs offering students a supportive, stimulating environment that encourages learning and the exchange of ideas in state-of-the-art facilities for research and innovation. In addition to Georgetown’s presence in Education City with Qatar-SFS, other renowned institutions of learning participating in Qatar’s education-centric growth include Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University’s Medical School, Northwestern University, Texas A&M University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Whether it is a scientific breakthrough that can lead to a cure for serious diseases, a technology innovation that opens up new, environmentally sound commercial opportunities, or fresh thinking in foreign policy that leads to peace in the Middle East and the world, the chances are that somewhere in Education City the genesis of a solution is in some stage of its development.