KARACHI, June 26: The dismantling of the cold war system and rapid strides by the forces of globalization in the new world order have given birth to new conflicts that are playing havoc with the global aspirations for promoting a just, peaceful and harmonious global, regional and local social order.

In order to deal with the situation, the need to understand the dynamics and significance of the movement for the promotion of ethics, values and social transformation was emphasized in a round table held on Saturday.

Karachi University’s Registrar Prof Syed Sikandar Mehdi made these observations while talking to the members of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs on “Ethics, values and social transformation: perspectives from Pakistan,” here at the PIIA.

Prof Mehdi said that giant forces were grappling with the complex issues adversely affecting the global and local movements for political and social change, domestic governance and human development.

He emphasized that the significance of the movement for the promotion of ethics, values and social transformation should be studied in depth and in detail. This was all the more important, for a country like Pakistan — an elite state sitting on the volcano of social upheavals.

The talk, he said, was the fore runner of the two-day national conference on the topic being organized by the University of Karachi on Sept 22 in collaboration with UNESCO, Islamabad.