Kelly 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.

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.

Countering extremist encroachments on universal rights

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.

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