By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi, while inaugurating Margalla Dialogue on Wednesday, said that evolution of human and state-centric history is full of incidents of lawlessness, wars, anguish and the tendency to maneuver religion and politics.

The flagship annual dialogue organised by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) theme was “Evolving World Environment: Chartering the Course for Our Future.”

The president listed out multiple challenges facing the world at large and said that Artificial Intelligence has turned out to be a direct and indirect threat by virtue of its encroaching space in all walks of life. Likewise, he said that changing world environment is impacting state policies and now it is no more an issue of how states and respective governments want them to be.

President Alvi pointed out at rampant poverty which could have been averted even if a marginal section of budget spent on wars had been diverted towards human development. He also spelt out mental health, narrative building and unhappy humanity as factors that go on to evolve a new society in these modern times.

He, however, was optimist that democracy anchored in humanity, ethics and better thinking will create positive vibes and the world will evolve itself into a better entity.

The president made great referrals to current and ancient history and observed that evolution is always been with the powerful strata of society, and the principle of might is right is associated with vested interests. He referred to wars in Europe, the role of Church and State in state evolution, as well as the Westphalian Treaty of 1648, and said that one of its greatest achievement in evolving decency in state affairs was the decision that arms would rest with the government/State and borders were drawn for redefining activity between divergent societies.

He called for working against wars, hate and bias, and remarked that emotionalism, phobias and exaggeration leads to devastation of societies and plunges humanity in chaos.

He called upon the United Nations to evolve a new cardinal role in working for peace and a just society based on value of emancipation and humanity.
President Alvi appreciated the holding of the dialogue which in a short span had carved out a niche amongst the prestigious security and development dialogues of the world. He mentioned that the new age is defined by a tectonic shift in the geo-political landscape of the word due to great power competition. According to him the world was hunkering down for competition and rival blocs at a time when the nature of emerging threats like climate change, pandemics, economic insolvency, poverty and the tyranny of algorithm driven social media.

The impact of technology on media and society was another aspect that needed debate for a better understanding of the emerging realities. Since the threats to the regional and international security emanated from the security dilemma caused by the military centric alliances the preference for trade, connectivity and partnerships emerges as the preferred option for sustainable peace and prosperity.