TRENDS Research and Advisory Center, in cooperation with the Jeju Institute of Peace in South Korea (JPI), organized a scientific symposium entitled: "Peoples' Relations as a Basis for Global Peace Making: Building a Culture of Dialogue and Tolerance". The event was held as part of TRENDS’ activities at the 65th edition of the Seoul International Book Fair 2023. A group of experts and researchers contributed to the insightful discussion, which was attended by His Excellency Abdullah Saif Al Nuaimi, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director-General of the Emirates News Agency (WAM) and a distinguished audience of media professionals, writers and the Korean public visitors of the Seoul Book Fair 2023.
The symposium was opened with welcoming remarks by Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ali, CEO of TRENDS Research and Advisory and Professor Young Hoon Kang, President of the Jeju Peace Institute. Dr. Muhammad Al-Ali stressed the importance of this symposium which is held in the Seoul International Book Fair venue, in cooperation with TRENDS' main strategic partner in the Republic of Korea, the Jeju Institute for Peace. Dr. Al-Ali welcomed Professor Kang, President of the Jeju Institute and his team to the TRENDS Stand, and pointed out that the bilateral relations and strategic partnership between the two sides are quite vital. Dr. Al-Ali stressed that TRENDS Center is keen to strengthen and activate this partnership to serve the objectives of both sides in the promotion of research work and supporting TRENDS global outreach. He indicated that TRENDS Center has concluded more than 190 partnership agreements with important research, academic and media institutions worldwide. Such partnerships promote constructive dialogue and research cooperation to serve issues of concern to humanity in general.
The TRENDS CEO explained that the symposium aims to emphasize the importance of strengthening peoples' relations, as the basis for making world peace through mutual work that builds a global culture of dialogue and tolerance. Prof. Young-Hoon Kang welcomed the TRENDS Center delegation participating in the Seoul Book Fair and the symposium, on behalf of the Jeju Peace Institute.
He said that TRENDS’ delegation participation expands the prospects for intellectual and research cooperation by both sides. Prof. Kang pointed out that the Jeju Peace Institute focuses on the issue of peace and cooperation within the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. One of its major contributions in this respect is the annual Jeju Forum for Peace & Prosperity, recently held on Jeju Island two weeks ago. He said that there are many commonalities between the Jeju institute and TRENDS Center. He said that TRENDS has been working to explore and analyze opportunities and challenges in the Gulf region, the Middle East and beyond, since its inception in 2014. He praised TRENDS Center for focusing research work on artificial intelligence, sustainable blue economy and renewable energy. Prof. Kang said that the Jeju Peace Institute and TRENDS Center both seek to promote global peace and prosperity.
Rahaf al-Khazraji: researcher and the deputy director of the scientific publishing department at TRENDS, was the moderator of the symposium. She opened the event and said that the symposium aims to explore the basic aspects of promoting world peace by emphasizing the importance of constructive relations. She stressed that the best way to achieve harmonious coexistence and possible conflict resolution lies in developing a culture of open dialogue and tolerance. This requires exploring the complex dynamics of human interaction.
She said that active dialogue and mutual understanding represent an inspirational source for building a more secure, peaceful and stable world community.
In turn, Haeyong Lim, Director of Research Department at Jeju Peace Institute delivered a working paper in which he talked about the Institute's Peace Index (JPI) project. He said it defines the level of cooperation and conflict in bilateral relations, and measures cooperation and conflict between and within countries, based on a huge database of global of events.
Mr. Haeyong Lim said that the index works through specialized programs to detect actors, objects, types of events, dates, location, and collects information in a systematic manner. It classifies data in terms of event type quality.
Mr. Haeyong Lim gave some specialized detail on these programs and the method of drawing conclusions. Mr. Lim stressed the importance of the indicator in making peace and identifying the sources of conflicts and problems, with the aim of pushing towards sustainable peacemaking solutions.
Dr. Alec Chung, Research Fellow at the Jeju Peace Institute, explained that the Jeju Peace Index project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea with the aim of expanding its impact circle. He stated that the index uses Textual Analysis by Augmented Replacement Instructions (TABARI). This is a system for the machine coding of international event data based on pattern recognition. It analyzes sentiment, examine, classify and encode articles and news reports in binary data, based on the Conflict and Mediation Event Observations framework (CAMEO).
Dr. Alec Chung explained that the analysis is based on news articles and reports from 1,100 reliable news sources out of a total of 23,000 news sources that are classified based on expert advice. He said that such data helps in understanding, exploring and analyzing events in a scientific and logical manner.
Elyazia Al-Hosani, Head of Media Communication Office at Trends Center, delivered a working paper entitled "Cultural Diplomacy and Peace Promotion in the Middle East". She said that cultural diplomacy provides great opportunities to develop communication and common understanding between multiple parties. It is a valuable tool to learn about other peoples’ values, their cultures, civilizations and human heritage. This could be achieved through various forms embodied in this type of diplomacy. She added that cultural diplomacy is a powerful tool for bridging divisions, promoting understanding and building a foundation for lasting peace.
She indicated that cultural diplomacy recognizes the inherent value of cultural diversity and seeks to promote inclusiveness and respect. It paves the way for overcoming entrenched misunderstandings of the distant past and encourages dialogue, open conversations and mutual understanding.
Al-Yazia Al-Hosani stated that the Middle East is home to diverse religious traditions, and the promotion of interfaith dialogue is crucial to building peaceful coexistence.
Al-Yazia stressed that the Middle East has a rich cultural heritage that can serve as a common platform for dialogue and cooperation. The media also plays an important role in this regard by promoting dialogue and coexistence.
She called for the necessity of celebrating cultural diversity and fostering meaningful dialogue, in order to lay the foundation for a harmonious future and build bridges of understanding that transcend borders and promote peace.
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