Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

Augusto Zamora R. examines the war on terror, five years after the attacks of September 11th, and concludes that Washington has undertaken counterproductive, violent, and in many cases illegal policies, which have left it weaker and more isolated than ever. Terrorism has increased considerably since 2001 both in the number of attacks and in its victims. In Zamora R.’s opinion, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon have not only proven to be military fiascos, but have provoked a new worldwide arms race.

Pedro G. Cavallero highlights the exponential growth that the Latino community has had in the past decade in the US, stressing the fact that this social and demographic trend has evolved at an extremely rapid pace, generating concerns about the nation’s ability to keep up the newcomers’ arrivals, and the overall enforcement of existing immigration regulations. Nevertheless, problematic trends appear on the horizon, as a rarified and xenophobic discourse has begun to creep into political races. Cavallero states that Hispanic America is at a crossroads. And as Hispanic numbers continue to increase, so will the need for Latinos to assemble large, inclusive, and widely-encompassing coalitions that convey one simple message: Hispanic America has a stake in developing a strong, welcoming, tolerant, and powerful America.

Pedro G. Cavallero believes that Hispanics in the United States have shied away from engaging in foreign affairs. Even transnational issues that have a direct impact on their community seem to be beyond Latinos’ reach. U.S.-Israel relationships are not the exception, he states. Recently, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) –leading Hispanic and Jewish advocacy organizations in the U.S.– took a delegation of Hispanic leaders to Israel. Cavallero reports some of his experiences during the visit and how he realized that the Latino Phenomenon remains rather unknown for most Israelis, although some initiatives to bring Israel closer to the Hispanic community are on the way.

George Soros challenges the concept of war on terror and says that it has been a tragic misconception: it has not prevented terrorist attacks around the world yet it has diverted the American attention from other vital tasks. He adds that it has damaged the American dominant position in the world and endangered its open society. Soros thinks that only by forging a new consensus on fighting the terrorists can the US correct these mistakes and regain the pre-eminent position in the world. In order to convince people that the war on terror is the wrong framework, we must formulate a better one. Here he explains how.