Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

The strong rise in food prices worldwide has diverse and complex causes, but the situation can be summarized in the following: the demand has risen much more than the supply. If developed nations fail to recognize this, and fail to put fresh money towards the subsidy of food for the poorest, millions of people could die of hunger. The author recommends increasing the global supply of food (through existing technology and science), subsidizing food for the poorest, and implementing free trade worldwide in agriculture.

Food increases because of the change in climate; the major revenue of emerging economies like China and India; the growing demand for biofuel and speculation, states the author. Find out what will happen in the next few years and what can be done to avoid the hunger of millions of people.

While some proclaim that the Internet has brought knowledge to within everyone’s reach, there are others who believe that technology has amplified the distance between the rich and the poor, between the digitally literate and the citizens without access to the knowledge that the Internet makes available. Be that as it may, the author believes that social networks like Facebook allow for interaction and the spread of knowledge and access to more information, and they constitute a valuable opportunity to bridge the digital gaps.

The origin and expansion of think tanks on a global level: does it have to do with civil society’s greater level of involvement in governmental duties, or, on the contrary, is it a response to the crisis of representation in political parties? Do they act as bridges between the rulers and the citizens, or as a new, elitist model where the experts substitute those politicians branded as demagogues and populists that are in power. To follow: the first part of an analysis of the impact and transcendence of think tanks in current cyber-democracies.

One of the quandaries facing terrorism analysts today: the jihadist’s dilemma of whether to promote collective or individual action among potential adherents. Although this may appear to be an obscure issue, so specific as to interest only counterterrorism analysts, it is actually a widely applicable and underappreciated topic that could directly impact the type of terrorism Europe may face in the future. As such, it is a concern for all.

It is easy to understand why there is interest in Antarctica; not only is it very probable that it has oil, gas and mineral riches, but it also has something that could be of even greater importance in the future, and which is neither possible nor probable, but unmistakably there: fresh water, of which Antarctica must be the largest known reserve.

Understand why the United States and his allies are unable to win in Iraq in spite of their overwhelming military force. Understand which is the role that plays the merger of the Wahhabi neo-fundamentalism, the Arab ultra-nationalism and the Shia revolutionism.

• Turkey´s diplomatic coercion with Iraq
  por Ildefonso González Blasco
• Protecting Americans by Spying at Home
  por Eric Napoli
• The Cold War with Iran
  por Ricardo Israel Zipper
• Uprising Against the 'War on Terror'
  por Arshin Adib-Moghaddam

The populists tend to enlarge the group of contemporary non-liberal democracies. The author points out that t is not strange that within a single, caudillo-style leadership that claims to act in the name of the people (pueblo) and for the people, political rights and freedoms, like the freedom of the press, freedom of expression, the plural-party system, and the control of electoral processes are suppressed or diminished.

Soul searching, an atmosphere of toleration and respect and a dialogue among the civilizations (the West and Islam). Mutual respect, justice and equity and the rejection of bigotry and hatred; all basic humans values that the West and Islam have in common. Why then is a dialogue between these two civilizations so hard?