- Dubai Debates
-
Dubai Debates is an online video debating forum based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. According to its website, Dubai Debates offers "a platform for online opinion leaders, pundits, academics, journalists, politicians, activists and all interested users to exchange ideas through videos." In addition to video debating via its website, regular debates are also held in Dubai, bringing together opinion leaders for panel discussions.[1]
www.dubaidebates.com
Contents
History
The series was launched in early February 2011, in the midst of the Egyptian revolution. According to The National newspaper, the founders of Dubai Debates "drew inspiration from how opinions were circulated on Twitter and Facebook during the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings." Dubai Debates was conceived as a contribution to the global discourse in social media, adding a video element and putting a face to the people shaping that discourse.
A conflicting report in the New York Times states that Dubai Debates was conceived as a reaction to a Doha Debates panel on the motion "Dubai is a bad idea", held on 14 December 2009. [2]
The first Dubai Debates panel discussion was held on 23 February 2011. [3]
Format
A current debate topic is defined and announced through the Dubai Debates website, its Youtube channel [4], as well as on its Twitter and Facebook feeds. At the same time, a date is announced for a panel debate on the respective issue. Interested users are then requested to submit their video contributions to the topic, which are all featured on the website and on Youtube. [5]
The panel sessions are split into thematic segments, each representing a specific question. All debates are video-filmed and made available after the event on DubaiDebates.com and Youtube. During the panel session, selected videos uploaded by outside contributors are shown. A Twitter hashtag is defined, allowing live discussions about the panel to be incorporated into the discussion. The number of segments was six for the first two editions of Dubai Debates, each between 6-9 minutes in length.[6]
Previous debates
Mark Zuckerberg - the new hero of the Arab people? (Dubai Debates 1)
The inaugural Dubai Debates topic was "Mark Zuckerberg - the New Hero of the Arab People?". A panel session on the topic was held on 23 February at the Media One Hotel in Dubai. Participants included Mahmoud Salem, the award-winning Egyptian blogger widely known as Sandmonkey, as well as Daniel Gerlach of Zenith Magazine, Al Arabiya TV anchor Mahmoud Abu Obeid, and American University of Sharjah scholar Mohammed Ibahrine. The debate was filmed and widely viewed on the Internet since. The Goethe Institute was one of the first supporters of the debate. [3] [5]
After the Arab Awakening: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Arab World (Dubai Debates 2)
The second Dubai Debates topic was announced through Twitter on 12 May 2011 as "After the Arab Awakening: Opportunities and Challenges for a New Arab World". A panel debate on 31 May was initially planned to be held in co-operation with the American University in Dubai (AUD), in the main auditorium. On 28 May, three days before the debate, the event was moved to the Kempinski Hotel Dubai and co-operation with AUD terminated without further comment. [7]
Panelists at Dubai Debates 2 have been described as "star academics" and included:
- Dalia Mogahed, Director of the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center and an adviser to US President Obama
- Shadi Hamid, research director of the Brookings Doha Center
- Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of Al Quds Al Arabi and one of only five journalists who interviewed Osama bin Laden
- Tarik Yousef, the Dean of the Dubai School of Government.
The debate was moderated by Matt J. Duffy, a media scholar from Zayed University. [5] [8]
The debate was composed of the following six segments:Is the Arab Spring over? [9]
Where is Egypt headed after the revolution? [10]
Can Arab and Islamic values be reconciled with democracy? [11]
Do Western governments even care about democracy? [12]
A new Arab world - new alliances? [13]
Will Arab democracy bring Arab prosperity? [14]
Dubai Debates 2 was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank connected to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, as well as CNN International. There was an audience of 200 guests. [5]Future debates
No further debate topics have been announced to date. On 12 June 2011, Dubai-based daily Khaleej Times reported "the next edition of the Dubai Debates is already in its planning stages, with the topic of women's rights possibly on the table." [15]
External links
- Official website
- - The National, 2 June 2011 'Dubai Debates: the word is out there'
- - Khaleej Times, 12 June 2011 'Talking things over to be heard and seen'
- - Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2 June 2011 'Success of Dubai Debates Surpasses Expectations'
- - Al Arabiya English, 2 June 2011 'Arab Spring, Summer or Winter?'
- - Dubai Eye 103.8, 3 June 2011, Evening News
References
- ^ http://dubaidebates.com/pages/about
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/world/middleeast/09iht-M09C-DOHA-DEBATE.html
- ^ a b http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/role-of-facebook-in-egyptian-revolution-overstated
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/a
- ^ a b c d http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/dubai-debates-the-word-is-out-there
- ^ http://www.zenithonline.de/deutsch/gesellschaft//article/die-mitmach-debatte/
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/DubaiDebates
- ^ http://www.dubaidebates.com/debates/view/2/after-the-arab-awakening-opportunities-and-challenges-for-a-new-arab-world
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/17/aPXY1IrN83s
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/16/9d6WjaDzlAY
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/15/eeFwArelc04
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/14/dFGM_5NJ5go
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/13/RGGIi8LAcSM
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/DubaiDebates#p/u/12/wqc_4j0CLDc
- ^ http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/June/theuae_June299.xml§ion=theuae&col=
Categories:- Organizations based in Dubai
- Debates
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
