An American Message for the Chinese President

Posted by , 13th January 2011

President Hu JintaoKelly Currie
1/12/2011

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrives in Washington for a state visit next week as the Obama administration’s thinking on the US-China relationship has evolved. Curry suggests that Obama may give greater prominence to human rights as he recalibrates relations with Beijing. She thinks freedom of expression should be the leitmotif of the summit. The summit provides an opportunity to contrast the weaknesses of the Chinese political system with the strengths of the American one. Aspects of the visit involving freedom of expression should be non-negotiable. If the Chinese side objects, the White House should be willing to cancel events of importance to Beijing’s protocol-obsessed leaders.

Currie is a senior fellow with the Project 2049 Institute.

Link to full text in primary source.

Give your opinion

Globalization and coalition for peace

The Issue of Global Action by an Enlightened and Concerned Public

Posted by , 26th June 2008

mundomanos.jpgAs globalization increasingly provides access to resources necessary for the spread of militant radicalism, it also allows valuable opportunities to begin healing animosities between certain Western countries and the developing world. The slogan of the environmental movement, think globally and act locally, would be an appropriate point of departure for building a global peace movement, says the author.

2 comments

Wolfowitz’s Resignation as President of the World Bank

The opportunity to democratize international organizations

By Rafael Moreno (for Safe Democracy)

Rafael Moreno believes that the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz as President of the World Bank opens up an opportunity to democratize the selection process of the leaders of International Organizations: a system which up until now has been manipulated by the great powers of the world.

1 comment

The Western Stand against Terror Propaganda

Countering extremist encroachments on universal rights

By Robert Wesley (for Safe Democracy)

Robert Wesley writes on the recent threats of violence from Muslim extremists reacting to Western statements and actions perceived as anti-Islam. After the Pope’s comments at Regensburg, and the publication of the Danish cartoons, a manipulative extremist propaganda network has emerged in full force to fuel extremist protests and cow the West into abandoning its core values. Wesley notes the need for a plan by Western leadership to combat the propaganda of Islamic militants, and protect the values of free speech and expression so essential to the functioning of a liberal democracy. In Wesley‘s opinion, backing down or apologizing when threatened will only reinforce the behaviour of Jihadist groups and bring them closer to their goals.

2 comments

3 Years After March 11th: Regional Challenges for a Globalizing World

International Summit of Safe Democracy
Saturday, March 10th, Teatro Lara, Madrid
What are the principle challenges that today confront Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East? How can we ensure that academics and experts offer solutions to these large regional challenges?

The Safe Democracy Foundation –co-organizer of the International Summit on Terrorism, Democracy and Security in March of 2005 and organizer of the March 11th Atocha Workshop— will reunite this Saturday, March 10th in Madrid with a diverse group of academics and experts from distinct disciplines and nationalities to debate and look for, on the third anniversary of the attacks of March 11 2004, solutions to the principle regional challenges in 9 parallel work groups.

In the first of the summits (March of 2005) co-organized by Safe Democracy with the Club of Madrid, successfully managed to obtain that the highest representative of the United Nations and numerous Heads of State met in Madrid in order to analyze how democracies could fight against terrorism in an effective manner, without losing its spirit. The results are published under the title “Agenda de Madrid (The Madrid Agenda)”.

In this new International Summit of Safe Democracy we want to deepen not only the phenomenon of terrorism, but in those regional disequilibria that directly affect democracy and global security. At Safe Democracy, we understand democracy as not only the opportunity to elect ones own government and representatives, but in a much greater sense: a political and social system that offers security (physical, but also economic and social) and that values education, health, job opportunities, freedom of expression, diversity, that supports innovation without fear, that respects minorities and their cultures and their rights.

The themes to be analyzed range from the fight against terrorism in Spain and Europe 3 years after March 11th to how to create sustainable development in Asia. We will also address the question of immigration and the future of Europe, governance, poverty, and development in Latin America. We will have two tables of experts dedicated to how to avoid the regional mega-crisis of chaos in the Middle East and how to restart the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Also, the challenges of aid and poverty in Africa and the resurgence of Russia as an international super power will be analyzed.

As part of the multiple activities of Safe Democracy oriented to guarantee the fortification of democracy as a pillar of global development, an opportunity will be opened to analyze public subjects below the dynamic of the work groups in those which will exchange ideas, propositions, and reflections between renowned experts like: Rafael Calduch Cervera, professor of International Relations in the Complutense University in Madrid; Esteban Ibarra, president of the Movement Against Intolerance; Pablo Mieres, president of the Independent Party of Uruguay; Jos

4 comments

Transatlantic Relations Improved?

As America’s Discontent with Bush Grows, Europeans Sigh with Relief

By Martin Varsavsky

Martin Varsavsky writes on the relief felt throughout Europe at the fall of President Bush‘s approval rating. During the peak of Bush‘s popularity, his anti-European, confrontational policy of you’re either with us or against us did a great amount of damage to USEuropean relations. In Varsavsky‘s opinion, although the democratization of Iraq has failed, now that US public opinion is beginning to understand the fallacy of Bush‘s close-minded approach, trans-Atlantic relations will be greatly improved.

2 comments

War is Hell

Finding alternatives to violence

By Daniel Bavly (for Safe Democracy)

Daniel Bavly writes on the changing face of War in the 21st century, and how, after two world wars, the menace of terrorism has arisen as a new threat to peace. In Bavly‘s opinion, insufficient coordination, poor planning, cumbersome bureaucracies, and increasing citizen disillusionment are weakening militaries. As war changes, the military must also change, and society must seek new diplomatic alternatives to fighting violence with violence. A century and a half after the statement that War is Hell, Bavly writes, society may finally be beginning to believe it.

5 comments

The Return of Fascism

The immorality of denying the Holocaust

By Bernardo Kliksberg (for Safe Democracy)

Bernardo Kliksberg explains that the recent international conference, held in Teheran, to ridicule the Holocaust should not be considered as merely one more anti-semitic and racist act, but as the murder, for the second time, of the six million Jewish children, women, men, elderly, artisans, tailors, farmers, and workers who died in Nazi extermination camps. In Kliksberg‘s opinion, by denying the existence of the Holocaust, Iran is paving the way for genocide and racism of all kinds to be carried out with impunity. If the Holocaust can be denied, why not also negate Rwanda, Darfur, and the countless other brutal massacres that have blemished human history? Now, more than ever, Kliksberg writes, the free men and women of the world must rescue memory, and stand up in defiance of hatred, racism, and genocide.

6 comments

Current Challenges in the Fight Against Terrorism

Reflections from the investigation of the AMIA bombing

By Alberto Nisman (for Safe Democracy)

Alberto Nisman explains how since the international warrant for the arrest of several ex- officials of the Iranian government for their connection in the 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Argentina, two realizations can help in the fight against terrorism. The first is the fact that, despite the difficulties of condemning a complex crime that took place years ago, the main objective, to be pursued ceaselessly, is the fight against impunity. And the second is the recognition that in order to fight terrorism, an efficient strategy must be created to facilitate the prevention and punishment of terrorism without encroaching on the rights and liberties of citizens around the world.

1 comment