How the West Became Rich

Modern West stands on the intellectual foundations of Greece and the legal and political traditions of Rome. Renaissance and Reformation gradually turned medieval European society anthropocentric – culminating in secular Humanism. Reformation broke the political hegemony of the church giving rise to nation-states. Separated from theology, natural philosophy blossomed into science. Industrial revolution came at the end, only after man had freed himself from supernaturalism, established a constitutional and liberal political order, and mastered scientific method. Democracy came after WWI, when West had already been transformed socially, politically, and economically.

About the speaker

Academic Qualifications
Master in Public Administration – Harvard (1996-98)
Master in International Relations – Japan (1989-91)
BS Mech. Engineering – UT Austin (1983-86)

Work Experience
Financial and Private Sector – World Bank, Washington, DC
International Dept. – Industrial Bank of Japan, Tokyo
Middle East Business Dept. – Sony Corp., Tokyo
Engineering Dept. – ICI Pakistan, Ltd.

Syed Sardar Ali did his F.Sc. from Govt. College Lahore and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.  He earned his first master’s degree in International Relations from Japan and worked for Sony Corporation and the Industrial Bank of Japan in Tokyo. He later earned Master in Public Administration (MPA) from Harvard where he was a student of Prof. Samuel Huntington. Upon graduation he joined the World Bank in Washington, DC and worked in the Financial and Private Sector Unit in the Europe and Central Asia region until 2002. Sardar Ali, who runs a number of businesses in Islamabad and Lahore, is the Chairperson of Crescent Foundation. He has one daughter and three sons.