This House believes that Gulf Arabs value profit over people
Monday November 17 2008
MOTION PASSED
by 75% to 25%
Speakers
Najeeb Al-Nauimi
Speaking for the motion
Dr. Najeeb Al-Nauimi was Qatar’s Justice Minister from 1995-97. He was later Lead Counsel to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and has represented detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He now works on human rights cases throughout the Gulf.
Before becoming a minister, Dr. Al-Nauimi was a legal adviser at the office of the Emir of Qatar and represented the state at the International Court of Justice.
In academic life he was Professor of Public International Law at Qatar University and held the ‘HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair of International Law’ at Birzeit University in the West Bank.
Sheikh Mohamed Ahmed Jassim Althani
Speaking against the motion
Sheikh Mohamed Althani served as Qatar’s Minister for Economy and Commerce from 2003-2006. He is a businessman and is currently involved in research at Oxford University.
Much of Sheikh Mohamed's career was spent in oil and gas and he was an important figure in the development of Qatar's energy sector.
He represented the state in international discussions on trade liberalization, later launching several initiatives to improve the efficiency of government departments as well as the Qatar Financial Centre.
He has been Chairman of Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Chairman of Doha Securities Market and board member of the Supreme Council of Economic Affairs and Investment.
Mansoor Al-Jamri
Speaking for the motion
Dr. Mansoor Al-Jamri co-founded the daily Bahraini Alwasat newspaper and has been its Editor in Chief since 2002.
During a spell in the UK, he was Editor and Executive Director of ‘Islam21 Newsletter’ which examines the concepts of Islam and democracy.
Dr. Al-Jamri is the son of a prominent Shiite opposition figure, the late Sheikh Abdul Amir Al-Jamri, who fought for equality and democracy in Bahrain.
Tarik Yousef
Speaking against the motion
Dr. Tarik Yousef is an economist specialising in the Arab world and is the founding Dean of the Dubai School of Government. His current research interests include the dynamics of labour markets and development policies in oil-exporting countries.
Before his appointment in Dubai, Dr Yousef held senior academic positions at the School of Foreign Service and the Centre for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University.
His career has also included stints at the International Monetary Fund, the Millennium Project at the United Nations and the World Bank. He is now a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution as well as Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
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