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Justice in Action: Greater MENA Perspectives on Global & Regional Governance Innovation

Event Summary

Contributed by Doha Forum, Global Governance Innovation Network, Global Institute for Strategic Research, Stimson Center

Posted 1 December 2025

   

MENARA is born! We have now tallied all of the votes and the winning name for the Greater MENA research network on regional and global governance innovation is MENARA (Middle East and North Africa Research Advancement).

Monday, 8 December at GISR-HBKU (11:45-6:00 pm) - FEATURED HERE IS THE 2025 MENA DIALOGUE REPORT.

Without urgent and decisive action, serious injustices within and between countries risk undermining global stability and regional security, including within the Greater Middle East and North Africa. The Global Institute for Strategic Research at Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Global Governance Innovation Network, in collaboration with the Doha Forum and Stimson Center, were proud to host this half-day dialogue on Monday, 8 December 2025. The program spotlighted steps that have been and can be taken by regional organizations within the MENA region, as well as by global multilateral institutions, to overcome the stark justice gap found today within and between many countries today.

Speaking directly to efforts to deliver on the World Social Summit’s (4-6 November in Doha) positive action agenda on poverty eradication, full and productive employment and decent work for all, and social inclusion, the dialogue further examined the multiple dimensions of justice including its political, judicial, socioeconomic, and environmental characteristics (as underscored in the Future of International Cooperation Report 2025: Justice in Action: Beyond Promises to Progress). The MENA region is, simultaneously, witnessing myriad crises (from protracted violent conflicts to extreme poverty and climate change), as well as great opportunities (from new digital technologies to renewable energy). The dialogue focused on creative and bold proposals — from a Greater Middle East and North African perspective — to address stark justice gaps (and associated levels of inequality and underdevelopment) within and between countries. A just and sustainable future, in line with the outcomes of the World Social Summit, requires humanity to rethink global and regional governance, foster inclusive societies, and leverage innovation to bridge these divides.

Bringing together leading experts and policy-makers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and beyond, the dialogue will explore ways to innovate and strengthen the policy and operational interplay between the United Nations system (including the international financial institutions), World Trade Organization, G20, the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Islamic Development Bank, Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab Maghreb Union, and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States. It facilitated the standing-up of a new research network dedicated to exploring issues and institutions at the intersection of regional and global governance, including a possible focus on follow-through to the September 2024 UN Summit of the Future in New York and November 2025 World Social Summit in Doha.

Two reflections on the Doha Forum 2025 by Dr. Richard Ponzio and Rebecca Snyder (Stimson Center and Global Governance Innovation Network):

Richard Ponzio

In reflecting on the Doha Forum 2025 on the theme “Justice in Action: Beyond Promises to Progress” two-days after the forum, on Human Rights Day 2025 (December 10), two powerful concepts – justice and rights – and their interconnectedness come immediately to mind as permeating many formal sessions and sidebar conversations at this year’s convening. In the Future of International Cooperation Report 2025, an intellectual collaboration between the Stimson Center, the Global Institute for Strategic Research, and Doha Forum to inform this year’s forum, our broad conception of justice combines procedural and retributive justice (formal judicial institutions and processes) with both distributive justice (how society allocates and manages its resources) and the informal dispute settlement and justice mechanisms found in most traditional societies.

From the opening session until Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s (Chairperson, Qatar Foundation and Education Above All Foundation) closing ceremony reflections, many of the Doha Forum’s plenaries and expert roundtables engaging more than 450 speakers, alongside 6,500 participants from 170 countries, spoke to the need to overcome immediate crises and longstanding gaps pertaining to the political-judicial, socioeconomic, and environmental dimensions of justice, in diverse subject areas ranging from peace and security in Gaza, Syria,  Sudan, and Ukraine, to stabilizing the climate, and fighting extreme poverty. This year’s Doha Forum exemplified how diverse cultures and traditions continue to hold justice dear.

At the same time, in introducing new governance approaches through UN Human Rights Council, Security Council, and regional human rights courts reforms (among a dozen other practical yet creative global and regional institutional and related innovations), our new report explored the varied interplay between justice and human rights, defined as universal, inalienable, and indivisible rights by virtue of being human. Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Human Rights Covenants, they include the rights to life, liberty, equality, education, and health. Human rights as commonly conceived and legally protected in the modern world depend largely on a society’s broad-based commitment to an expansive and dynamic understanding of justice.

The mutually reinforcing connections between justice and rights, and our report’s accompanying proposals for change and progress through enhanced global and regional collective action, were the chief focus of two Stimson and Global Institute for Strategic Research co-sponsored dialogues at this year’s Doha Forum (see elaboration below). A new Greater Middle East and North Africa research network is anticipated to follow from these conversations, to further consider the issues and institutions at the intersection of global and regional governance. This may include a possible focus on deepening the promotion and safeguarding of all rights (including economic, social, cultural, political, and civil rights) across the region, as well as robust monitoring to advance follow-through, within the Greater MENA context, to the September 2024 Summit of the Future in New York and November 2025 World Social Summit in Doha.

Rebecca Snyder

The Doha Forum presented an opportunity to engage with actors across sectors and ideologies on the topic of justice. Aid cuts, increasing military expenditure, declining trust in multilateralism, and the role of negotiation, were overarching themes in many sessions.

On Sunday, 7 December, Stimson’s Global Governance, Justice, and Security program convened an extraordinary roundtable of experts on the theme of our Future of International Cooperation Report 2025, produced with the Doha Forum: “Justice in Action: Global & Regional Governance Strategies.” Looking across political-judicial, socioeconomic, and environmental justice, the discussion emphasized that the roots of injustice and inequality are deeply historical, requiring responses that reach both beyond multilateral frameworks and within them. While international law and justice-oriented systems exist, weak enforcement and double standards continue to undermine institutional credibility and justice. Gaza remains a critical litmus test for the moral authority of the international system and its ability to uphold and implement the rulings of the ICC and ICJ. Participants highlighted how the Global South champions the international rule of law and value of multilateralism, demonstrating that justice is achievable without the backing of great powers. Justice remains a global, moral, and legal responsibility demanding urgent action.

On Monday, 8 December, the Global Governance Innovation Network in partnership with the Global Institute for Strategic Research at Hamad Bin Khalifa University convened a half-day Global Policy Dialogue on “Justice in Action: Greater MENA Perspectives on Global & Regional Governance Innovation.” The overarching goal was the creation of a Greater MENA network of researchers to engage on topics related to global governance, justice, and regional integration. Participants highlighted that justice in the region requires engagement with both State and non-State actors, robust documentation of crimes, and enforcement of decisions made by the ICC, ICJ, and other bodies of international law. While the League of Arab States has a human rights convention and military pact, both are underutilized and forgotten, emphasizing the need for a regional human rights court.

On the topic of establishing a Greater MENA research network, participants emphasized that the research agenda should focus on peace and justice, regional integration, new technologies (AI, social media, misinformation), and mapping atrocities. It was emphasized that bridging the gap between researchers and politicians and policy makers was vital, since many officials do not interact with think tanks and researchers often in an advisory capacity. It was also found that there is a gap in research highlighting cultural aspects linked to social justice, best practices of justice across the Global South and the region, and the leadership and history of human rights in the MENA region. Overall, it was concluded that the research network would convene an annual dialogue, quarterly online calls, produce an annual report of the work done in the year, and produce journal articles.

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