What is Civilization? Envisioning the Future of Humanity

This gathering addressed a critical gap in the global conversation on civilization-building. While postmodern critiques have made “civilization” suspect in Western discourse, abandoning the term leaves us without language for imagining a planetary society at precisely the moment we need it most. Across much of Asia and the Middle East, by contrast, the term retains profound vitality, tracking closely to social realities and collective aspirations for development and progress.

Over three days, scholars from China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, the UAE, and the USA explored how to reclaim and reimagine civilization for an age of heightened interconnection and mutual reliance, examining the crisis of modern civilization, interfaith relations, the spiritual dimensions of progress, and humanity's collective future. At the center of the conversation was one question: what would it mean for civilization to integrate material and spiritual progress while moving toward a world peace grounded in humanity's fundamental oneness?