Preview Page SAR 2001 - 1
The short life of Dr Ibrahim F.I. Shihata, a national of Egypt, was full of
his remarkable contributions to all the positions he held, especially when
he was appointed vice president of the World Bank and Secretary General
of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes
(ICSID). His contributions extended to cover also the fields of economy,
law, and the welfare of the world.
Since 1972, I have observed with real appreciation Dr Shihata's pivotal
contributions to the developing countries, and I have always been able to
trace a sense of duty underneath, inspiring his works.
Between the geographical boundaries of Kuwait, Rome, Vienna and the
United States, Ibrahim Shihata's professional contributions were always
sincere and outstanding. And there always were an inner affinity that
bound him - heart and soul - to his so-long left homeland of Egypt.
Far from being a merely reflective exposition of the national status quo,
Shihata's studies present probations that go beyond circumstantial and
political constraints into a comprehensive ideology, powerful enough to
establish a civilization of modern times. His studies address various
matters, some of which deal with the planning of economic,
administrative, judicial and legal as well as educational reform – all
deemed as being complementary to one another.
The sort of comprehensiveness Shihata was after expands to include
ideological and cultural aspects, revealing a perfect reading into the
thinking of peoples as well as into the pan-circumstances of nations. It
seems that he was quite aware that the idea of comprehensive reform in
the sense he suggested to introduce, appeals mainly - if not only - to the
"intelligentsia" and therefore is so much alien to the stated ideologies and
common sense approaches of the average citizen. This rendered it
necessary to call for the re-building of a new culture, one which is
comprehensive enough to grasp the multi-dimensional changes.
