His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan paid a timely visit to Steinberg-Dietrich Hall Friday morning where he spoke to a diverse audience of about 100 regarding various aspects of the escalating situation in the Middle East.
There was a clear humanitarian focus to the prince's talk, which came as no surprise considering his role as founding co-chairman of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues. He also emphasized the role of the United States in the conflict and its potential resolution.
"My impression is, coming to the United States, that the Middle East... is looked at in terms of... virtual reality," Hassan asserted. "In terms of humanitarian outreach for many people in the world, the United States' humanitarian outreach has become virtual. The question is how to turn it into real for the non-spectators in the third world."
Hassan also discussed the economic concerns of the region, mainly in connection to humanitarian interests, particularly addressing the oil-rich regions of the world, which are slowly shifting from "recession to stagnation" with the gross national income and standard of living rapidly declining. He lamented the neglect of human and cultural affairs, which he claimed are consistently disregarded in favor of the more pressing matters of security and weapons, economy and oil.
Considering its geographical location, Hassan said Jordan is literally in "the eye of the storm" that is currently the Middle East. He drew attention to the security concerns of his nation, caught between Israel on the one hand and the Arab countries known as the Energy Ellipse on the other. Noting the precarious positioning of Jordan in the midst of several avenues for ballistic missiles, the Prince said the nation is caught "between Iraq and a hard place."
An hour-long question and answer period moderated by Business and Public Policy Professor Howard Pack followed the Prince's speech. Questions ranged from inquiries about the current situation with Israel to the religious strife in the region in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11.
The audience's reaction to the Prince's presentation was overwhelmingly positive.
"It was nice to hear a moderate voice," College senior Aaron Kane said. "I liked that he focused not only on the Arab-Israeli conflict, but also the development in the region."
"It was a great opportunity for Penn students," College senior and President Emeritus of the Penn Arab Student Society Omar Al-Wir said. "It's not often that people get to see the face of the real Arabs, the people who are looking to raise their families in peace and stay away from conflict."
Hassan was brought to Wharton by the recently established Wharton West Asia Conference, which aims to "highlight business opportunities and economic challenges facing the region," according to second-year MBA student and founding Chairman of the Conference Dilawar Syed.
"We are hoping that this will help us solidify this tradition where folks like him and intellectuals and public policy makers can come here... and present their point of view and create this healthy debate about the future of the region," Syed said. "It is very important for us to do this because it brings us closer to the world."
