International journalist, digital content executive and moderator. Running strategic editorial planning and initiatives at Al Jazeera Digital.
Doha
Joined July 2010
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Soraya Salam retweeted
This was one of the most interesting moments of our @DohaDebates on Al Jazeera: why do more and more countries, including the U.S., refer to themselves as civilizations?
Many view this as nationalistic or chauvinistic rhetoric, but I made the point that it's close to the opposite, that it's actually the world moving towards a healthier balance.
Why? Because, by definition, when you define yourself as a civilization you're implicitly accepting that there are other civilizations too, with their own values and their own ways of seeing the world.
As I argued, this marks a turning point after decades of liberal universalism when you never heard the word "civilization" because everything was about "universal values," with the assumption that there was only one legitimate way of seeing the world that everyone was expected - and often pushed - to adopt.
Talking of civilizations means it becomes acceptable to say "you are the way you are, I am the way I am, let's coexist," rather than trying to impose your model on everyone else. Which is inherently less conflictual.
And, as such, far from being chauvinistic, it's at heart more genuinely respectful of diversity than the liberal hegemony mindset where "diversity" was welcome as long as everyone ended up sharing the same values: ours.
My contradictor, Isabel Hilton, countered that liberal ideas have genuine grassroots support in China and are debated there by the Chinese themselves.
Which I don't dispute in the slightest: as I replied to her, a country debating its own future internally is the most normal thing in the world.
When it starts to become wrong is when outsiders are trying to settle that debate from abroad. As I put it to her, if China tried to spread socialism with Chinese characteristics in Britain, the British would rightly have a problem with it.
You can watch the full debate here below 👇 or on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=C_GZKMC5…
On the season premiere of the Doha Debates Podcast, experts debate: Will China or the West lead the world into the future?
Featuring @avilarenata, @HuiyaoWang, @isabelhilton and @RnaudBertrand.
00:00 Intro
01:34 Is the West losing influence to China?
06:15 What makes China unique?
11:20 Challenging the narrative of China’s history
18:50 Why the world wants to understand China
23:58 Are human rights weaponized in global politics?
33:57 The global south’s tensions with China
45:50 China’s role in the UN and global governance
55:21 Can Europe defend the global order without the U.S.?
01:07:19 China’s open AI strategy
01:24:44 The future of global currency and trade
02:00:23 Climate change, inequality and future leadership
02:06:55 Do we need a new global order?
Soraya Salam retweeted
On the season premiere of the Doha Debates Podcast, experts debate: Will China or the West lead the world into the future?
Featuring @avilarenata, @HuiyaoWang, @isabelhilton and @RnaudBertrand.
00:00 Intro
01:34 Is the West losing influence to China?
06:15 What makes China unique?
11:20 Challenging the narrative of China’s history
18:50 Why the world wants to understand China
23:58 Are human rights weaponized in global politics?
33:57 The global south’s tensions with China
45:50 China’s role in the UN and global governance
55:21 Can Europe defend the global order without the U.S.?
01:07:19 China’s open AI strategy
01:24:44 The future of global currency and trade
02:00:23 Climate change, inequality and future leadership
02:06:55 Do we need a new global order?
Soraya Salam retweeted
Is China offering world trade without political interference? #DohaDebates
Soraya Salam retweeted
Tomorrow’s @DohaDebates episode asks who is best positioned to lead the world or at least offer the best example going forward. We have great guests including @RnaudBertrand @HuiyaoWang @avilarenata and @isabelhilton and moderated by @sosalam. Tune in to watch the extended cut version on Doha Debates YouTube channel beginning 9 AM ET/4 PM Doha/9 PM Beijing.
Soraya Salam retweeted
20 new episodes. Global voices that challenge how you see the world.
🎙️The Doha Debates Podcast is back September 22.
Soraya Salam retweeted
A massive investigation has revealed a call made on September 23 between UAE President bin Zayed and Netanyahu.
Bin Zayed warned Netanyahu about an imminent threat of a Hamas attack.
Netanyahu did nothing. @haaretzcom @Haaretz
haaretz.com/israel-news/isra…
Soraya Salam retweeted
This is an utterly insane story: 25,000 documents reviewed by WaPo indicate that throughout Tulsi's career, her political moves were controlled by her guru, cult leader Chris Butler.
This woman was leading the world's largest intelligence apparatus.
washingtonpost.com/investiga…
Soraya Salam retweeted
Is having children a moral obligation? Follow this thread from moderator @sosalam on one of our latest debates⤵️
Soraya Salam retweeted
“We don’t live in a void. And each of us, as an individual, lives in a system, in a society. And the system is failing currently.” —Antonina Lewandowska
This week on the Doha Debates Podcast, sociologist, researcher and activist Antonina Lewandowska joins experts @alakabasu, Laurie DeRose and @StephenJShaw to debate why birth rates are falling and how this might impact our future.
Moderated by international journalist and media executive @sosalam
Soraya Salam retweeted
This week's debate asks: Are falling birth rates a problem or a sign of progress?
Featuring @alakabasu, Laurie DeRose, Antonina Lewandowska and @StephenJShaw. Moderated by @sosalam
01:52 Should having children be seen as a moral obligation?
05:09 “Having children is one thing, and creating a loving, supportive family is another.”
08:19 Instability, climate and the child-free choice: Why are birth rates declining?
13:00 Is child-free the right term?
19:09 Do we include men enough in these conversations?
20:21 Do men benefit from having children more than women?
24:39 Should we care that people are having fewer children?
34:08 Can technology fix falling birth rates?
36:53 Cultural continuity and preservation amidst global population shifts
45:28 India, demographics and our global future
49:08 Can immigration fix an aging society?
51:34 Marriage, partnership and why timing matters
02:14:54 Experts’ final message to young people
Soraya Salam retweeted
(🧵1/11) For the past year and a half, I've been investigating OpenAI and Sam Altman for @NewYorker. With my coauthor @andrewmarantz, I reviewed never-before-disclosed internal memos, obtained 200+ pages of documents related to a close colleague, including extensive private notes, and interviewed more than 100 people.
OpenAI was founded on the premise that A.I. could be the most dangerous invention in human history—and that its C.E.O. would need to be a person of uncommon integrity. We lay out the most detailed account yet of why Altman was ousted out by board members and executives who came to believe he lacked that integrity, and ask: were they right to allege that he couldn't be trusted?
A thread on some of of our findings:
Soraya Salam retweeted
FT Exclusive: A broker for the US defence secretary attempted to make a big investment in major defence companies in the weeks leading up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter. ft.trib.al/HIiu9Tx
Soraya Salam retweeted
Kull al-shukr (كل الشكر) “all the thanks” to @AtallahAmjad and his colleagues at @DohaDebates Debates for recording a podcast with @DrFunkySpoon, @hamzakaramali, @nickpopemod and me. Guided by our host @sosalam, we discussed: Are we alone in the universe? dohadebates.com/doha-debates…
Soraya Salam retweeted
Thank you for your moderation Soraya and navigating such an important conversation with care.
Soraya Salam retweeted
UPDATE: Iran's IRIB apologises for sharing false evacuation threat for Doha
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/nfhdr4?update=44233…
Soraya Salam retweeted
Just collecting high-ranking US government officials' statements.
Joe Kent, Director of National Counterterrorism Center: "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State: "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher those killed, and then we would all be here answering questions about why we knew that and didn’t act."
Donald Trump, President: "They were getting ready to attack Israel."
Karoline Leavitt, Press Secretary: "No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did."
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House: "Israel was determined to act with or without us."
Pentagon brief to Congress (reported by Reuters): "Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff on Sunday that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first."
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, in March 2025: "The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003."
Mark Warner, Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee: "There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel."
Soraya Salam retweeted
Main points in Abbas Araghchi’s interview with @AJEnglish:
📌 After the war, the first step that should be taken is the drafting of a new protocol for passage in the Strait of Hormuz.
📌 We do not believe in a ceasefire; we believe in ending the war. And ending the war means exactly ending the war on all fronts. in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Iraq, in Iran, and in the other countries of the region.
📌 China certainly has strong capacities, and alongside China, there are other countries that also have such potential. I repeat: any idea that can meet our demands and fulfill our conditions we will listen to it.
📌 My understanding is that the nuclear doctrine should not differ greatly from our previous policies, but we must wait until we become aware of the new supreme leader’s views.
Soraya Salam retweeted
BREAKING: More than 1,100 children injured or killed in Middle East since war on Iran began, UNICEF says
🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/2s21hi?update=43912…
Soraya Salam retweeted
Joint Statement
The Foreign Ministers of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar and the Arab Republic of Egypt condemn Israeli occupation authorities’ continued closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslim worshippers particularly during the holy month of Ramadan.
Security restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship in the old city constitute a flagrant violation to international law, including international humanitarian law, the historical and legal status quo, and the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship.
The Ministers affirmed their absolute rejection and condemnation of this illegal and unjustified measure, as well as Israel’s continued provocative actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif and against worshippers. They stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites.
The Ministers reiterated that the entire area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which amounts to 144 dunams, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, is the legal entity with exclusive jurisdiction to administer the affairs of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Haram Al-Sharif and regulate entry to it.
The Ministers called on Israel, as the occupying Power, to immediately cease the closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, remove access restrictions to the Old City of Jerusalem, and refrain from obstructing Muslim worshippers’ access to the mosque.
They also called on the international community to adopt a firm position that compels Israel to halt its ongoing violations and illegal practices against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, as well as its violations of the sanctity of these holy places.
#Jordan
Soraya Salam retweeted
Breaking News: The U.S. was responsible for a missile strike on an Iranian school, an ongoing military investigation found. The inquiry said the strike — which Iranian officials said killed at least 175 people — was the result of a targeting mistake. nyti.ms/47G2uw2