The signs of modernity are also found in the artificial islands in the Gulf waters designed to attract tourists and new tenants from outside the region. But when we look at the realities of human development and the quality of the products of cultural, educational, academic and media development, the picture is different in terms of attention and speed. The type of development which the Gulf area has witnessed since most of its countries gained independence attached considerable importance to physical development, consumerism and welfare at the expense of human development.

Contradictory realities

The current situation is full of contradictions as a result of neglecting human, in favour of physical, development. This is found in countless signs, e. g. replicating prominent international museums in the heart of some countries in the region rather than academies of arts and heritage or national museums to exhibit Arab and Islamic artistic heritage, which many prominent European museums boast of having, in order to train citizens who are able to investigate their national antiquities and develop arts.

Other signs are hurrying to open private universities and institutes instead of raising the academic standard of the neglected national universities, most of which are only concerned with awarding degrees and graduation ceremonies and organizing international film festivals! instead of opening film academies for graduating a generation of Gulf specialists to contribute to the march of this art in the Arab world and worldwide In this connection I invite the reader to look at the current Iranian film industry and its achievements at global level. The Gulf countries should also open music academies to establish a music movement adapted to the region's heritage and the world's current music. The region lacks drama academies as well, which delays the rise of an advanced Gulf drama movement to match the rapid pace of development which the region has witnessed for almost half a century.

Anyone who monitors real successful development and modernization movement like the ones in East Asia and Latin America will realize that they fulfil two basic conditions: Building free citizens who enjoy full rights in a democrat state; and full involvement in the products of modernity and openness to contemporary science and technology.

The conditions for development

Looking at the above conditions shows that they are rather ignored in the development process as seen in a comparison between the number of graduates who contributed to development at the desirable maximum level of Gulf aspirations on the one hand, and the overall pattern of Gulf city planning, on the other. The latter pattern has replicated the American model with ultra- modern buildings, high-rise towers called "skyscrapers" with glass fronts that do not suit our weather conditions. In addition, all signs of the life of our forefathers have been destroyed, and so have traditional buildings, souks, shops and houses as well as old tracks which were landmarks in the past and components of the heritage of generations who lived and established social and economic systems which no longer exist, even in memory!

Furthermore, we are lagging behind as far as the second condition (keeping up with the latest developments in science and technology) is concerned. Establishing research centres has also been neglected, which resulted in reducing the number of scientists. There is also serious negligence in establishing public and private libraries, museums, publishing houses and other cultural institutions which show the interest of society and the state in man's cultural development.

Curiously enough, all development experiments in the Gulf began by striking a balance between human and personality development, albeit in theory, and economic and technological development. Almost all experiments had repaid rates of application of the set development and progress plans stressing the exclusivity of each country. However, this balance was fast upset in favour of physical development. Educational and training institutions deteriorated, with the collapse of most of those which were established earlier. As can now be seen, development of Gulf citizens' awareness and cultural abilities as envisaged in the set strategies and plans has not fulfilled its conditions.

The products of cultural revival

As a matter of fact, my discussion of the phenomenon in question is set in the context of the experiment of the State of Kuwait which was relatively different in the beginning as it maintained a balance between educational and cultural development, and economic and urban development, with full support from Kuwait's leadership who believed that urban development and building a well-educated generation should go side by side. Accordingly, Kuwait has witnessed a cultural revival since the early 1950s as it benefitted from the expertise of leading thinkers and prominent figures in arts, economics and education from most Arab countries who were invited to give lectures in Kuwait.

Parallel to the cultural revival which a generation of Kuwait who studied in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt initiated by establishing cultural clubs and publishing monthly and weekly magazines, the government had its own cultural and educational project. It soon opened a large number of modern schools and developed educational and complementary cultural programmes. As the leader of educational development and modernization, the then-Director of Education Mr Abdul-Aziz Hussein said: "When I was Director of Education my primary concern was to spread culture along with education. My colleagues in the Department and I were of the opinion that culture is part of education. We focused on organizing cultural weeks in Kuwait and inviting Arab thinkers to give lectures. Our activities included educational publications, school magazines, cultural events in all schools, in addition to spreading education in the true sense of the word and authoring appropriate school textbooks. The Department regarded the culture process as an integral part of the learning process. That led to introducing school drama and music and art education into the schools of Kuwait."

All parties concerned joined forces to spread education and culture, and cultural weeks arranged by the government started in the mid-1950s in which great thinkers and prominent literary figures from all over the Arab world took part. That was followed by founding Kuwait University and institutes of drama and music. The state took the initiative in publishing books, encyclopedias and cultural series, such as the monthly "World Drama" and the monthly book "The World of Knowledge." the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedia in Arab and world culture published in Arabic so far, in addition to other world-class books and intellectual and cultural periodicals. Eminent academics were recruited to establish and lead the university and institutes. That increased the momentum for human development and public awareness of their rights and ambitions to keep up with the path of human development in the world.

That cultural revival strengthened Kuwait's cultural role in the Arab world, particularly as its cultural institutions were keen from the outset to build bridges of cultural development to reach the Gulf states out of its conviction that to bear fruit, human and cultural development should span the whole region.

The dominance of physical development

A closer look at the current situation of culture in the region shows that the efforts made in the pre-independence period in the area of human and personality development are lagging behind relative to Kuwait's high ambitions at the start of its development project. I wouldn't like to say that there are signs which seem in essence to be an attempt to withdraw from the human development project and focus on the culture of physical development which replicates foreign models: building high-rise apartment blocks and shopping complexes and turning the Gulf region into markets for the products of the superpowers and multinationals. There is no harm in this investment so long as there is parallel investment in humans and in developing local products and the Gulf identity. On the other hand, it can be a liability if it does not combine with similar ambitions for personality development.

A review of the fields of culture, arts and the media shows not only stagnation in creative activities and in providing a cultural climate similar to the one in which several generations of Kuwait and Gulf nationals were brought up in the 1960, 1970s and 1980s, but also severe retrogression in such fields not only at the level of comparison of ambitions with realities but also in terms of sharp deterioration in cultural activities, the infrastructure of cultural development, such as theatres, art institutes, publishing houses, public libraries, museums, art galleries and music rooms for adults and the young. Lack of such infrastructure shows how much we neglected man in our quest for material gains.

A positive relationship

It is no exaggeration to say that there is a positive relationship between this deteriorating cultural climate and the rise in extremist voices which call for social retrogression, arousing tribal and sectarian differences incompatible with a modern society based on democracy and a modern constitution, as well as diversity, tolerance and knowledge rather than narrow-mindedness and rejection of the other's views.

It goes without saying that culture in our Arab societies corresponds to the role which institutions of modern science and technology play in placing states on the development scale. Accordingly, intellectuals play a central role in this respect and in planning grand strategies based on their overall approach. Culture cannot play its desirable role unless human development is given priority in any society where individuals receive first-class, state-of-the-art education and have free access to knowledge and masterpieces of literature, arts, science and thought, as well as world knowledge. They should also be trained in critical thinking to help them acquire discretion, moral values and creativity.

It is this type of personality that we need to develop in order to promote ideal development and advancement not only here but in the entire Gulf and Arab world. Arab societies struggled hard for liberation from colonialism, then they achieved their current progress, thanks to their citizens' efforts, through the revival of enlightenment and developing a personality which is capable of dealing with the language of the age confidently, flexibly and ambitiously to help our culture and societies reach their rightful status.