2026 marks 250 years since 1776, an inflection point in the intellectual history of classical liberalism and Enlightenment thought. The Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, and Adam Smith published his famous Wealth of Nations.

As such, the Second Global Enlightenment Forum aimed to explore the heritage and impact of Enlightenment in the non-Western world, specifically North America, North Africa, and the Middle East.

​As modern academia continues to discover the global roots that found some of history's most important philosophical movements, we wish to tease apart the intellectual heritage and impact of the Enlightenment vis-à-vis its other regions. This spans the breadth and depth of intellectual canon: philosophy, literature, science, history, economics and politics were discussed.

​A line-up of esteemed thinkers gave presentations and talks that educated, directed and stimulated the discussion. They presented new research of primary sources and reoriented our understanding of the Enlightenment through new frames of thinking:

• ​​[Keynote] Professor Fitzroy Morrissey (Abdullah Saleh Fellow and Tutor in Arabic; Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Law, University of Oxford), on The Arab Enlightenment and the Renewal of Islam

• ​Dr Richard Johnson (Senior Lecturer in US Politics & Policy, Queen Mary, University of London), on The Origins and Meaning of the Declaration of Independence

• ​Dr Elisabeth Drayson (Lorna Close Fellow, University of Cambridge), on A debt disavowed: the hidden Islamic roots of the European Enlightenment

• ​Professor Eric Chaney (Associate Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford), on Enlightenment Lost? Religion and the Rise and Fall of Islamic Science

• Dr Eamonn Butler (Co-Founder of the Adam Smith Institute), on The Wealth of Nations in the Enlightenment

​​Attendees had the opportunity to hear from, question and network with the speakers of the Forum as well as the other attendees, who will represent multidisciplinary backgrounds ranging from academia and research to journalism, business and politics.