Nayef Al Rodhan, global thinker

This blog is followed by many Spanish-speaking experts in international relations and politics not only in Spain but also in the US and Latin America, according to statistics kindly provided by Blogger. Although it is ususally written in Spanish, please allow me the exception of turning to English today. The reason is that I am presenting to the Spanish-speaking public a very interesting and original thinker on global issues who has produced a new and lucid system of thought. This system is formulated in precise terms; therefore, it seems appropriate to replicate the same language and expressions used by the author.

Dr. Nayef Al Rodhan started his career as a medical doctor and neuroscientist, conducting research at the Mayo Clinic and Yale University. Then he changed to his other vocation: global strategy and the theory of international relations. This means that Dr. Al Rodhan has a rare ability to combine very different backgrounds at the time of developing a holistic view of human nature and society (and destiny). Currently he is researching at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and is the Director of the Globalisation programme at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (www.gcsp.ch), where I had the opportunity to meet him in a recent visit, and exchange views on many areas of common interest. His website is www.sustainablehistory.com.

As a point of departure Dr. Al Rodhan thinks that human nature can be described as “emotional amoral egoism”, and that the human being acts according to the Theory of Sustainable Neurochemical Gratification: “what makes our existence meaningful is highly individualistic and ultimately based on durable neurochemical gratification”. However, on the other hand, human life tends towards Human Dignity, which includes reason, security, human rights, justice and innovation (see his book Sustainable History and the dignity of man). As a consequence, there is a long lasting clash between human egoist nature and human dignity. Good governance (both national and global) is a key instrument to advance in the direction of human dignity.

Dr. Al Rodhan is a genuinely optimistic thinker, for he suggests that globalisation and multiculturalism will bring about a better world. Cultural and ethnic diversity is leading to cultural vigour (global civilisation is like an Ocean, he affirms, where diverse seas and currents are possible). History should be made sustainable through “neo-statecraft”, in which “just power” should play a key role. Security can no longer be understood in a short sighted manner but rather should include “human, environmental, national, transnational and transcultural dimensions”, and education is also a means to achieve global security. This approach to global issues must be welcome in a world where short term interests and economic turmoil seem to dominate the scene.

Although Dr. Al Rodhan’s system of thought is very attractive, it presents two drawbacks from my point of view. Firstly, his positive confidence in science and technology (as shown in his two latest books The politics of emerging strategic technologies, and Meta-geopolitics of outer space) does not take sufficiently into account the limits of human nature. Indeed, his futuristic views on “transhuman beings” have been equated to those of R. Kurzweil. This blog has previously criticised Kurzweil’s hopefulness on the grounds that our human nature is too weak and complex to reach the perfect state of machines and mathematical equations. Nonetheless, I am well aware of the fact that this is an ongoing debate, where I place myself on the humanistic side.

Secondly, followers of this blog and my earlier works have surely identified some parallelisms between Dr. Al Rodhan “sustainable history and human dignity” vision and my “cosmocracia” theory (2006), where I argued that positive developments in global civilisation and global governance would produce a new global system in time. However, in later papers I have argued that, in the current circumstances, progress cannot be taken for granted and a “danger zone” or “hypercrisis” may be in front of us. In a nutshell: I try to mix long term historical optimism with short term awareness of risks and challenges. Dr. Al Rodhan works include many references to global risks and threats, and he edited an impressive volume on Potential global strategic catastrophes, with prestigious authors. However, in his system of thought, potential negative developments in global politics could perhaps be developed further. 

Finally, as a prolific author, Dr. Nayef Al Rodhan has also written more specifically on the historic turning points in the Middle East region, in a recent book published in 2011. This is yet another reason to get to know better his works in both Spain and Latin America. His original approach to global and human issues and his thought-provoking discourse deserve continued debate.