Within the framework of its scientific activities, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies was organized. Tunisia, in cooperation with the Tunis Association for Culture and Pluralism, on the evening of March 3, 2026, an intellectual seminar to present the book of the researcher Professor Tarek Al-Kahlawi Newly issued entitled "Ibn Khaldun and Geopolitics: The Khaldunian Theory of Urban Geography". The session was opened by the representative of the Tunis Association for Culture and Pluralism, welcoming the attendees, and highlighting the importance of the topic that combines the historical and research dimension on the one hand, and the civilizational and strategic dimension on the other, by re-reading the Khaldunian thought in the light of contemporary geopolitical issues. The discussion was moderated and commented on the book by Professor Munir Al-Saidani, researcher in sociology.
The master started Tarek Al-Kahlawi His intervention presented the scientific context that led him to the completion of this book, explaining that his interest in the geographical thought of Ibn Khaldun began during his preparation of his doctoral thesis on the perceptions of Arabic-speaking geographers of the Mediterranean, especially through the study of the works of Sharif al-Idrisi. Proceeding from this, he sought to highlight the impact of Islamic geographical knowledge in the formation of Khaldunian theory in urbanism, stressing that geography constitutes one of the key keys to understanding Ibn Khaldun's intellectual project.
The lecturer dealt with the main stages in the life of Ibn Khaldun, highlighting the impact of the political experience he had, and his isolation in the castle of Bani Salama, where he wrote the "introduction", and then the stage of his settlement in Tunisia and Cairo, which enabled him to expand his knowledge horizons and benefit from geographical and historical sources. He also showed that geography occupies a pivotal position in Ibn Khaldun's interpretation of human construction, as the nature and characteristics of societies are related to the environment in which they live without falling into geographical determinism, which distinguishes his perception from some modern geopolitical theories.
As highlighted by Professor Al-Kahlawi The dualism of the desert and the present represents one of the central concepts in the Khaldunian theory, as the power of nervousness is linked to the geographical and social milieu, which allows - in his view - to re-read a number of contemporary political and strategic phenomena, while emphasizing that the thought of Ibn Khaldun does not provide rigid explanations, but rather lends itself to understanding the dynamics of the establishment of states, their transformations and their fall.
In his commentary on the book, Professor Mounir Saidani The contexts within which this work falls, considering that it contributes to the renewal of the reading of Khaldunian thought from the point of view of geopolitics, and is part of the efforts to criticize Western centralism in the production of knowledge and to highlight the contribution of the Arab-Islamic intellectual heritage in the development of geopolitical concepts. وأشار إلى أن الكتاب يقدم قراءة جديدة للعلاقة بين الجغرافيا والعمران والسلطة، مع إثارته جملة من الأسئلة النظرية حول حدود توظيف بعض المفاهيم الخلدونية -وعلى رأسها مفهوم العصبية- في تفسير الظواهر السياسية المعاصرة.
واختُتمت الندوة بنقاش ثري مع الحضور، تناول عددًا من القضايا المرتبطة براهنية الفكر الخلدوني وإمكانات توظيفه في قراءة التحولات الجيوسياسية الراهنة، إضافة إلى موقعه في النقاشات المعاصرة حول نقد المركزية الغربية في العلوم الاجتماعية، ودور التراث الفكري العربي الإسلامي في إنتاج مقاربات نظرية بديلة لفهم العلاقات الدولية والتحولات السياسية.