Prince Alwaleed and Princess Ameerah ranked ‘among most influential Saudis’

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company and chairman of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation-Global and Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel, vice-chairwoman and secretary general of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, were ranked among the most influential Saudis in the world recently by The Christian Science Monitor.
Prince Alwaleed is known for using his wealth and media holdings to press for more modernization in Saudi society, and greater cultural understanding between Islamic countries and the West.
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Prince Alwaleed and Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel hosted an historic gathering in February 2012. The event brought together leading scholars and thinkers on Islam and the West at The Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University with the theme of “Collaborative Education for a Globalized World”.
Participants included global scholars from the six Prince Alwaleed academic centers located at the world’s most prestigious universities.
This participants included Director Ali Asani from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University; Director John Esposito from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University; Director Hugh Goddard from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at Edinburgh University; and Director Yasir Suleiman from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at Cambridge University.
Other participants were Director Alex LuBin from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research from the American University in Beirut; and Director Magda Shahin from The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research at the American University in Cairo.
During the event, Prince Alwaleed stressed that dialogue strengthens the cultural bridges between East and West.
“What has taken place in some Arab countries — Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria — has shocked the Arab region. This message is clear, no matter how much social change you make in your country or economic benefits you bestow on your people, it will not be enough. Change must occur whereby the people feel they are involved, have a voice and can participate in the system.”
The discussion centered on Islamophobia in the West, anti-Americanism, and educational programs designed to break down stereotypes and misinformation about the West and Islam.