Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand all exemplify how the argument that democracy is not the appropriate system or the democratically elected leaders are corrupt helps the military elites control the country. Bangladesh, with the opposing forces of Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, could be added to this list. The upcoming postponed elections and the return of civil and political liberties appear to be the only way out of this narrow alley in which the provisional government has placed Bangladesh, states the author.

Pakistan’s fledgling PPP and PML-N led coalition government appears promising, yet it faces many challenges upon inception: primary problems like rising inflation, joblessness, the growing strength of Islamic radicals, poverty, and a wheat and electricity crisis; but also rewriting the constitution, ousting Musharraf and dealing with the deposed judges. Fearing that a direct confrontation between the coalition and Musharraf would serve to destabilize Pakistan, the author timely reminds us of the adage politics is the art of compromise.

• The Politics of Pakistan: The Implications of the Recent General Elections
  por Sohail Mahmood
• Can Pakistan turn over a new leaf?
  por Sohail Mahmood

After days of a military offensive against the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, Turkey consented to withdraw its troops, in what appears to be a strategy to gain Washington’s trust and ensure that Ankara will have the possibility to carry out new, characteristically similar offensives (limited in scope and duration) in the near future. However, the Kurdish question will not be resolved until Turkey changes its mentality and puts policy before force when making decisions related to national security, states the author.

The escalating tension between Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela is as incredible as it is dangerous. The shaky international community cannot allow an armed conflict to break out in the Andes region, or even a new focal point of tension in the American continent. Rhetoric can turn into drama, states the author.

The expectations that Fidel Castro’s resignation generated throughout the world are vanishing. Nothing augurs profound change, at least not in line with the change that world leaders are looking for. It looks like the day in which Cuba opens itself up to democracy, holds debates regarding the rights of the people and is incorporated into the global economy is far away, the author assures.

• Cuba, following in the footsteps of China and Vietnam
  por José Luis Martínez

The Middle East is experiencing a new escalation in the violence between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants. According to the analysts, the only way out involves the reestablishment of a framework for global negotiation between the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian factions of the West Bank and Gaza, an option that could lead to the creation of another National Unity Government, provided that an agreement is reached beforehand. But in order for this to happen, the author states that Israel must renounce its project of getting rid of Hamas by force.

• Alert before the Unreasonableness of Hamas
  por Jana Beris

The supporters of Taiwanese independence consider Kosovo to be a precedent that encourages them not to give up in their struggle. Nevertheless, the differences between the two cases are obvious, and not only due to the democratic imperative necessary to constitute a state; neither the origin of the dispute nor the regional and international context of the two cases is similar either. This is why the consequences of Kosovo’s independence will probably be felt more in the South Caucasus (Transcaucasia) or Europe rather than in the Far East, states the author.

• The Kosovan State is unviable
  por Raquel Sánchez Bujaldón
• Kosovo´s final status: another chapter of turmoil in the Balkans?
  por Borja Lasheras
• China-Taiwan: Playing with...the Torch
  por Xulio Ríos

The failed meetings between Warsaw and Moscow are numerous and complex. Poland continues to view Russia as a threat, but Donald Tusk’s brand new cabinet intends to confront its great neighbor with a new strategy: to promote negotiation in view of the conflict. The objective of Warsaw is two-fold: to win allies that reinforce their position with respect to Moscow and to promote a more united stance within the heart of the European Union, one critical of the Russian excesses.

• Poland Wagers for Change
  por Mercedes Herrero de la Fuente
• The United States, Russia, and the "new" missile crisis
  por Zidane Zeraoui

Today Brazil receives an important flow of capital in the form of direct, as well as financial, investments, partly induced by the differential between the American and domestic interest rates. What would happen if the United States were to effectively slip into a recession and the Federal Reserve were to decide to continue lowering the rates? What would the consequences for the local economy be?

• Brazil is looking to accelerate its growth
  por Marcelo Luchino
• The Globalization of Brazil
  por Marcelo Luchino