His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, on Monday (January, 18, 2010), said that it is essential to understand the importance of supra-national issues in the West Asia-North Africa region and to ensure that the region is represented institutionally on a world level.

Addressing, via satellite, a group of students and representatives from Board and faculty associated with various units of study on campus at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, HRH said that it is necessary to consider the impact of religion on culture and the impact of culture on religion as well as the development of the noble art of listening and conversation in order to activate dialogue away from stereotypes.

Prince El Hassan called for the invocation of the wisdom of illumination, which originated in the Orient, and the heritage of Western enlightenment in order to meet the growing extremist views in the world of today, stressing the importance of citizen diplomacy in this context.

HRH also talked of the importance of humanizing globalization to develop a global understanding that goes beyond rentier investments and that highlights the human face of various issues of security, economy and culture - calling for dialogue within civil society which takes into account the cultural diversity of peoples and the meeting of minds.

“Developing an awareness of a shared interactive memory is essential to understand the future and to move to the third sphere, in partnership between governments, private sectors and civil society in order to address imprisonment of thought, and to formulate a law for peace” the Prince said.

Earlier on Monday, Prince El Hassan addressed a group of Syriac Orthodox representatives from Aleppo, who are visiting Jordan. HRH stressed that ethics, values and morals have their origins in religions.

HRH called for indexing comparative analysis of the concepts that lead to convergence between humanitarian law and heavenly guidance, stressing that education should be touched upon by such comparative studies.

Prince El Hassan said that it is necessary to focus on cultural diversity instead of cultural alienation in dialogue between cultures.

HRH called for the establishment of a moral authority in the holy places which transcends politics. He also called for the establishment of a fund to honor these places and take care of them.

HRH stressed the importance of developing a strategy of understanding for our extended Arab and Muslim family in the world, so as to address various issues such as immigration, poverty and unemployment.

Prince El Hassan said that if the time of central planning has ended, this should not mean the end of priorities. A major priority to address nowadays is the spreading radicalism which affects the rationality of many.