Dr. Salam Al Rabadi \ The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
All countries in Arab
world face complex cognitive dilemmas at the level of knowledge capital formation.
Despite the remarkable progress achieved in terms of knowledge dissemination
indicators in Arab societies, many facts should not be ignored that require a
careful and thoughtful reading of their implications.
According to the Arab Economic Report (issued by the Arab Monetary Fund
2022), the illiteracy rate in the
Arab world is about 25%, which is considered the highest
in the world (with the exception of Sub-Saharan Africa at about 34%), as there are approximately 70 million illiterate Arabs, and there are approximately 15 million children outside any educational systems.
If we want to frame the reality of Arab intellectual capital more
accurately and not be satisfied with quantitative indicators only, here we must
draw attention to the dilemmas associated with each of:
-
The abundance of specializations versus the
scarcity of other specializations (especially scientific ones).
-
The actual feasibility of the phenomenon of the
spread of the existence of universities as branches of foreign educational
institutions.
Accordingly,
we can raise the problems related to educational strategies capable of keeping
pace with the requirements of the knowledge economy and society, according to
the following dilemma:
Are educational policies and methodology in the Arab
world able to create a critical mass of knowledge capital that can meet the
intellectual and cultural needs of society or the economic needs of labor
markets?
Despite all the efforts made to advance on this path, and instead of
merely improving quantitative indicators, it seems that we are still far from
meeting the global standards for forming a critical mass of qualitative
knowledge capital. There are currently deep doubts about the ability to create
dynamic, innovative and critical spaces through which we can form that critical
mass in order to confront the accumulated economic and social dilemmas,
including the intractable political and intellectual crises in the Arab world.
Therefore, in principle, it must be acknowledged that it is not
possible to form a solid and solid knowledge capital without a clear vision of
the identity of the Arab citizen whose knowledge is to be formed. Here, the
importance of the decisive role of political leaders and intellectual elites
emerges, which they can play in restructuring all concepts, strategies and
practices related to the process of producing and forming the critical mass of
knowledge capital.
In this context, to demonstrate the fragility of Arab knowledge
strategies and the lack of vision at the political level related to knowledge
performance, we only have to pose the following dilemmas:
-
The small size of Arab government spending on
scientific research, which has become an essential part of the soft power of
countries: According to reports by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), total spending on scientific research in the Arab world does not
exceed 0.59% of the gross domestic product, compared to the global average of
approximately 2.3%.
-
The scarcity of support for book production or
reading: The Arab world produces less than 1% of the world’s book production (although the percentage of the Arab
population is approximately 5.5% of the world’s population).
-
The poor quality of published books and the
limited base of actual readers in the Arabic language: Unfortunately, the Arab citizen only reads an average of 6 minutes per year, compared to 200 hours per year for the European individual.
-
The Arab world has the highest rates of brain
drain and skills migration in the world: as
a result of a political and intellectual environment that is unable to retain
or attract talent and innovators, most Arab students who study abroad do not
return to their home countries (especially those with doctorates).
In conclusion, these dilemmas and problematics inevitably confirm the
urgent need to increase investment in knowledge capital related to scientific
research. Here we must also realize the danger of being convinced of the
feasibility of public policies related to importing knowledge and technology with
money, without the existence of an enabling political environment based
primarily on:
1.
Localizing rational and critical thinking.
2.
Factors that create creativity and innovation.
Accordingly, political
visions will remain primarily capable of creating a supportive environment for
the formation and consolidation of a qualitative critical mass of real
knowledge capital, which in principle must be based on:
-
The philosophy of science and the social
contract that supports the rule of law and respect for diversity.
-
Political, cultural and economic modernization.
