Opening Keynote by Fahad M. Alturki

We live in a world of rising nationalisms and proliferating global problems, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change. With regard to the global problems, all people are in the same boat: everyone prospers or everyone fails. Nation states rightly have a wide range of responsibilities towards their citizens, but in the presence of global problems such as the current pandemic, they simply cannot be expected to satisfy the needs of their citizens in isolation. To be vanquished anywhere, the pandemic must be vanquished everywhere. Other global challenges, such as overcoming a worldwide depression or preventing another financial crisis, also require harmonious collective action. What is the role of policy making, business and civil society in contributing to a global decision making ecosystem in which local problems are addressed locally, national ones nationally, and global ones globally?