Universities play effective role in creating a New World Order, Vice President for Student Affairs says

Report by the Directorate for International Academic Cooperation– 

Vice President for Student Affairs of Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU), Dr Mehdi Vahedi, participated in the online Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, which took place from 14 to 17 June 2023, and delivered a speech on "The New World Order and the Place of Science and Technology and Universities' Role in It".

This International Forum is the largest event in Russia and is attended by the Russian President. Dr Mehdi Vahedi participated in the panel entitled "Development of Talent Finding: National Innovative Ecosystems and International Cooperation" and talked about the prospects of academic cooperation between Iran and Russia.

Dr Vahedi pointed out that currently, most analysts believe the world is in a state of fundamental change and transformation and added that these extensive changes are occurring at a surprising speed. Analysts and experts consider the 21st century to be a century of Asia and believe that the old continent is going to return to its former focal status.

He went on to express the important role played by universities in the New World Order and said: "The US hegemony is over and the world is on the threshold of a new order. In such a state of affairs, various events require detailed investigations, and universities play a central role in this regard."

He then emphasized that the Western colonial world is suffering from various crises which will set the stage for its decline. According to Dr Vahehi, moral and spiritual crises; serious conflicts between seductive slogans and objective behaviours in the real world; the abundance of violence, force and terrorism; and the Wester countries' inability to stand up to nations' awareness are among the major crises inflicting the West.

He then continued, the reduced role of the US as the main player in the international arena and its removal from the main trends in the new international order, the return of power to Asia, and the increase in the current of resistance are among the instances of the change of the New World Order. The world is witnessing a shift in power from the capitalist West to the East. This change will be accompanied by the transfer of political, economic, cultural and even scientific power from the West to Asia, and Asia will imminently turn into a centre of economic, political, military and scientific power in the world.

Dr Vahedi then referred to the importance of science and technology and its decisive role in the New World Order and stated: "As a result of the stunning advances in science and technology, all the equations about the world's future have centred around science and knowledge, and in this respect, the youth and academics enact the most central role."

Dr Vahedi considered the humanistic attitude, the secularist approach to science, separating science from human values, and the instrumental use of science as the major problems of the scientific and technological systems in the Western colonial world and concluded that Western science and technology cannot be used as a model.

Highlighting the need to avoid giving up to Western scientific hegemony, believe in the possibility of producing science based on human happiness, and make policies to move in the direction of beneficial science, Dr Vahedi noted: "Universities should prepare students to play an effective role in the New World Order through providing them with accurate analyses and interpretations of the current state of affairs and the changes in the world."

At the end of his speech, ATU's Vice President for Student Affairs announced that ATU, as the only Iranian university specialised in Humanities and Social Sciences, is prepared to play a role in the realization of these objectives and missions. 

Held since 1997, Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is an influential event in the areas of economics and business. Since 2006, the Forum is organised under the President of the Russian Federation's support and managed by Vladimir Putin's advisor, Dr Andrei Fursenko.