The Doha Debates

Qatar's unique forum for free speech
in the Arab world
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THE NEXT DEBATE

September 5th, 2007 - Wednesday
(7:00 PM Seating & 7:30 PM Starts at Qatar Foundation, Education City)

Motion: 'This House believes it is time to talk to Al Qaeda.'
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THE LATEST DEBATE

Torture Never Justified - May 28th , 2007
A majority of the audience at the last Doha Debate of the third series, held on May 28th, agreed that the use of torture is never acceptable, even under legal supervision.
58.4% of the audience rejected the motion 'This House believes that torture is only acceptable under legal supervision"...
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THE DOHA DEBATES SPECIAL

President Bill Clinton
November 16th, 2005

Former US President Bill Clinton was the guest for the first Doha Debate Special, which was held in November 2005. The theme of the event was 'the demands of leadership' where President Clinton spoke with the students about his time in the White House.

Note: You can watch this event, see more information on this debate,
& others from past debates by going to the webpage (see below)
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The Doha Debates are a public forum for dialogue and freedom of speech in Qatar. They are chaired by the internationally renowned broadcaster Tim Sebastian, formerly of the BBC's HARDTalk programme, and held in the headquarters of the Qatar Foundation in Doha each month during the academic year.

For the past three years, the Doha Debates have been providing a platform for serious discussion of the hottest issues in the Arab and Islamic worlds, striving to be both controversial and informative. They have gained a huge international following through their broadcast on BBC World - the BBC's international television channel.

The Doha Debates are modeled on the Oxford Union debates. A motion is presented to the 350-strong audience and two speakers argue on behalf of the motion and two speak against it. Tim Sebastian questions the speakers on their positions, then opens the debate to questions from the audience. Finally, the audience votes for or against the motion, based on the merit of the arguments they have heard. Our invited speakers are highly regarded academics, politicians, religious figures, government officials, policy experts and journalists from around the world.

The Doha Debates are hosted and funded by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development which is headed by Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, wife of the Emir of Qatar who is pioneering educational and social reform in Qatar.
Although a project of Qatar Foundation, the Doha Debates are independently run. The Doha Debates team retains full editorial control and is solely responsible for the content of the Debates and the speakers who are invited.

The audience of the Doha Debates is made up of people living or visiting Qatar who register for tickets via the Doha Debates website. About half the audience is comprised of university and senior high school students who study in Qatar but who come from a wide range of Arab countries and beyond.

To register for tickets, please go to, 'Attend The Debates'.

All info above from Webpage: http://www.thedohadebates.com/

Note: Verified the Date/Time from the office manager of The Doha Debates via e-mail