RIYADH: The King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue is holding Tuesday in Jeddah the third Saudi Cultural Discourse to discuss “Tribalism, Regionalism and Intellectual Categorizations and their Influence on National Unity”. The meeting aims to produce a moderate national discourse that expresses the nature of Saudi society, and updated intellectual contributions in accordance with Islamic values based on moderation and tolerance. The meeting will look at a range of subjects, notably people's understanding of tribal issues, the depth to which they are rooted in Saudi society, their influence and effect on society in the light of current changes, and knowledge of the method in combining national loyalty, and positive regional and tribal branch loyalty and independence of thought. The meeting will also look at the future of Saudi society from those perspectives. The first focal point, “Tribalism and its Influence on National Unity”, will look at whether tribalism is a strong or weak factor in the course of national unity, the reasons for its recent growth, the positive and negative aspects of tribalism, and what is required for the future of the national Saudi culture in the light of tribalism. The second discussion point, on “Regionalism and its Influence on National Unity”, will look at the sense of regional belonging and ask whether regionalism is a strong or weak factor as regards national unity, the reasons for it on a mass level and in the cultural rivalry, and whether it now represents a fanaticism or a negative bias. It will also ask how we can invest regionalism with positive features and eliminate the negative aspects. “Intellectual Categorizations and their Influence on National Unity” will consider how those categorizations came into being, how they are used to praise or demean individuals or groups, whether such categorizations are acceptable or not, how they affect the body of society, and what is required for the future of Saudi unity regarding those intellectual categorizations.
