The Middle East and North Africa is experiencing a period of profound transformation. The regional order is being reshaped by multiple regional wars, geopolitical competition, technological change, economic diversification, and evolving relationships between states and societies.
Traditional alliances are becoming less predictable as regional powers pursue flexible partnerships across competing geopolitical camps. Artificial intelligence and advanced infrastructure are creating new opportunities for economic transformation, while also introducing new forms of technological and strategic dependence. Political leaders are advancing models of governance centred on state capacity, national development and technocratic effectiveness, even as citizens confront economic insecurity, demographic pressures and declining trust in political institutions.
Questions discussed at the conference include:
- Are new structures of regional order emerging, or is strategic fluidity becoming a permanent condition?
- How will automation and artificial intelligence affect employment, education and inequality?
- Will new technological and investment corridors promote regional integration or deepen fragmentation?
- How are concepts of citizenship, national identity and political legitimacy changing?
- What competing political visions could define the region over the next decade?
- To what extent are public attitudes shaping foreign and domestic policy?
