“Scientific thinking” is present in a society if the society understands and believes in a scientific approach. In order to benefit from this approach, our government and our private sector should actively encourage science and technology. The benefits of a scientific approach become very clear when a comparison is made between the achievements of Israel and those of its Arab neighbors. Both Israel and the Arab world share many of the same geographical features and natural potential so it cannot be argued that these two factors make all the difference. On the contrary, meticulous planning and bold decisions — with the objective of moving forward through science and technology — make Israel different. We Arabs are used to looking at the Jewish state as a military force propped up by the West, especially the US. There is truth in that view but it is far from the total picture. According to recent statistics, Israel published 216,000 research articles in 1995. For the same year, the total for the entire Arab world was 6,625. In 1997, some 12 million books were sold in Israel, which works out to an average of three books per person. The country’s export of electronic goods grew from $1 billion in 1986 to more than $6 billion in 1999. Its export of diamonds, which account for 80 percent of world production, was worth more than $4 billion in 1995. Decision making in manufacturing and economic matters is invariably determined by the findings of research centers.

It should be obvious that in countries where the very presence of such centers is nonexistent, very few — if any — new ideas will be produced. Western companies, for instance, are keen to allocate a hefty share of their annual budgets to establish and operate research centers and laboratories in order to guarantee their production of marketable goods. The better a company performs overall — including research — the stronger the country’s economy will be.

We have to wonder why so little serious interest is shown in the Arab world for the possibilities of solar energy. For a region blessed so abundantly with sunlight for so much of the year, there are countless opportunities for investment in the technology. Israel has invested heavily in solar energy and by installing some million solar units, it saves the state some $1.75 billion annually. Water is another topic that demands our immediate attention and our most careful research. Since 52 percent of the world’s desalination plants are in Arab countries, it is imperative that we turn our attention to developing desalination technology so that water becomes both economic and safe. The basic problem is apparently not the shortage of talented Arab scientists; indeed their competence has been established beyond doubt in foreign research centers. The resources that could hold them in their own countries or even bring them back are, on the other hand, the problem. We must allocate the necessary resources to establish centers where Arab scientists can work freely, safely and securely. We must not allow a static and backward-looking bureaucracy or popular negative sentiments to keep us from doing what needs to be done.

From economic reports, we learn that patents for new inventions in Korea are equal to 44 percent of the total of the entire Arab world. We also learn that Israel’s economic policy demands that its companies allocate a substantial portion of their budgets to research and development. That policy has made the Israeli budget allocation for research arguably the highest in the world — 2.4 percent of its GNP. When we look at similar figures for the Arab world, we see that percentage allocated to research and development does not come to one percent in Arab countries. These facts and figures should be painful to us and should stir emotions that would spur us into action.

The action of course must be accompanied by the required financing as well as a free atmosphere for research and the development of new technologies and new products. Arab research centers should be established and supported by governments with generous financing and equally generous credit facilities. The present age will not tolerate societies who waste their energies in frustration and lamentation. We have no choice but to make real plans to end our scientific illiteracy. Let us open special secondary schools for those who possess scientific talent and the aptitude for research. We should also inject new life into departments of technology in our universities and institutes of higher learning in such a way that the educational system establishes close links with the demands of both the local and international employment market. If we could only do these things, we might well become the heroes of the future!