Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Chairman at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies participated in the World Knowledge Forum on the 12th of October 2016, he delivered his remarks in a session entitled "the 2017 Geopolitical Outlook." 

Text of Prince Turki Al-Faisal's remarks:

It is needless to say that world is facing immense challenges which if not met responsibly by the community of states and in particular by great powers, the world is slowly sliding toward real anarchy. Anarchy and vacuum are the most dangerous threats facing our world. And therefore 2017 may not bring big change to the ongoing Situations in the absence of responsible world leaders. I strongly believe that all issues mentioned here as geopolitical risks are symptoms of deep structural problem in the existed international order caused by the failure of our world community to live to the principles of world good governance as set in the charter of the UN seventy years ago. International order envisaged by the victors of World War to preserve “peace and security of the world” is now in crisis and failing to respond to crisis and risks facing humanity. Our interdependent and globalized world is not the world of 1945 but still managed by the mentality of 1945 and the Cold War. International order needs restructuring to be fair, inclusive, and reflective of international reality, where power, in all its aspects, is shared by many power centres. The world is so conscious of unfairness of the present order and sees it as outdated structure and not being able to tackle the issues of the day. Without bringing the world. Therefore, without such restructuring geopolitical risks will continue to rise and threaten to world peace and security. As we see in the Syrian crisis, the failure of international community and specially the failure of the two great powers, USA and Russia to address this issue from the beginning according to the principles of the UN charter, is leading to the present diplomatic and rhetorical confrontations, which threatens world peace and Security. What is happening in Syria of such confrontations could be replicated in another crisis. Issues like N. Korea nuclear issue and Russian - Ukrainian issues are cases at hand. The world does not need a world war to have a new world order to prove that world orders in history are by-product of major wars. Therefore reforming the existed order requires new thinking by all UN member states including the five permanent veto members. The sustainable international order that can preserve peace and security in the world and that can meet the pressing challenges and threats facing humanity must be an equitable one. The world leaders need to come to their senses. 

Thank you