Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

The recently elected coalition government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) must now struggle to cement its power amid dauntingly high public expectations. In addition to lingering political disputes, among them the recent judiciary controversy and the ongoing conflict with Kashmir, this new government now faces a grave economic situation and a changing political atmosphere in the exterior.

• Assessing the creation of the new civilian government in Pakistan
  por Sohail Mahmood
• The Politics of Pakistan: The Implications of the Recent General Elections
  por Sohail Mahmood

Many Mexican citizens have resigned themselves to accept insecurity as something inevitable due to the inability (or the corruption) of the police and judges with regards to the control of drug trafficking and organized delinquency. The Calderón government only manages to tackle occasional skirmishes against the local mafia, affirms the author.

In spite of the conciliatory tone of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, other types of anti-Semitic messages reach the Palestinian population through the media. This is a direct problem for Israel, but, above all, it is a worrying phenomenon for the Palestinian society that claims it deserves an independent state. An independence that should include the managing of a good education system, maintains the author.

• Gaza: the consequences of the "Hot Winter"
  por Adrián Mac Liman
• Why must Israel be a civil nation of all its citizens
  por Dan Bavly

Recently, officials in Washington D.C., London, and Paris have claimed that, for ordinary Iraqis, the security situation has been improved by the surge in U.S. troops. However, the Iraqi people continue to suffer, with thousands dead, millions injured, and millions more displaced. What led to this anarchic situation and how can it be contained?

• The United States Takes Turkey Out of Iraq
  por Ildefonso González Blasco
• Why the US is losing in Iraq
  por Arshin Adib-Moghaddam

Strung up between radical and polarizing militant forces, a leadership lacking credibility, and a firmly rooted history of antagonism, the Israeli and Palestinian people face a strong and ever-escalating conflict. The author claims that few of those caught in the crossfire allow themselves to hope for an end in the near future. How does a peace so long desired, so diligently debated, find itself receding progressively farther from view?

• Gaza: the consequences of the "Hot Winter"
  por Adrián Mac Liman
• Why must Israel be a civil nation of all its citizens
  por Dan Bavly

The confrontation between Tibetan protesters and Chinese troops is simply a violent reminder of a long-established tendency towards coercive and expansionist policies of Beijing, the author argues. Is it any wonder that, given such a history, the international response to this most recent crisis has been underwhelming?

• Taiwan opposite Kosovo
  por Xulio Ríos
• Post-Tiananmen China: A Case of Selective Amnesia
  por Xulio Ríos

The Organization of the American States [OAS] was born to install peace and contribute to the development of the societies of the American Hemisphere. However, things changed and tension developed between the United States and Latin America. Nevertheless, the crisis between Bogota and Quito has shown that problems are solved through international law and the will of Latin American leaders–a demonstration of multilateralism in the region that is a reason to celebrate, assures the author.

• Latin America must create a permanent forum for security
  por Rafael Moreno Izquierdo

It does not make sense to think that the national interests safeguard can be guaranteed with measures that have exclusively national jurisdiction. Colombia will not be successful against FARC if its members find refuge on the other side of the border (which does not exempt Bogotá from having to ask Ecuador for complete forgiveness). Latin America will only achieve domestic and foreign security with a common and coordinated effort. Here is how.

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.