Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

Amidst all of the current mayhem in Pakistan today, there is much finger pointing as to who was responsible for the assassination of leading opposition candidate Benazir Bhutto, with both Musharraf’s government and Islamist radicals bearing the brunt of the blame. In the meantime, elections have been postponed and Musharraf is trying to remain in power despite widespread domestic opposition, especially from the PPP and the poorer sectors of society. The author argues that fair and free elections are the only way out of this political crisis, and calls upon the West to intervene and ensure that they are carried out.

• Pakistan, a key ally of the United States
  por Sohail Mahmood
• The destabilization of Pakistan
  por Alberto Priego

A particular political, diplomatic and legal phenomenon can be observed in relation to the drama of the kidnappings in Colombia: the matter has gone international. The question is whether this fact complicates or simplifies the liberation of those kidnapped, including those in the present as well as the future, those in Colombia and those that are held captive throughout the entire world.

The refusal of the United States to halt the installation of the anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, and the mounting aggression between Washington and Moscow, gave the impression that a new Cold War atmosphere has come over International Relations.

• Kosovo´s final status: another chapter of turmoil in the Balkans?
  por Borja Lasheras
• Poland Wagers for Change
  por Mercedes Herrero de la Fuente
• Spain, before and after funding from the European Union
  por Ferran Requejo
• Anemia in the European Union
  por Luis Méndez Asensio
• Changes in the Russian Security Agenda
  por Rafael Calduch Cervera

The author discusses the international community’s responsibility to protect those experiencing genocide, specifically in Darfur. He describes the United Nations´s call for humanitarian intervention, now newly and more specifically defined as the responsibility to protect.

• The dispute for African Oil
  por Eloísa Vaello Marco
• The Impact of Climate change in Africa
  por Jesús Rivillo Torres

The author argues that the recent summit in Annapolis marks the beginning of a period of serious negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Still, there are many obstacles to be overcome in the future: while Hamas’ influence is diminishing and the Palestinian government is having success in its efforts to provide the region with stability and security, the crisis in Gaza still remains, and Israel has not been as successful in holding up its end of the deal as set forth in the first stage of the Road Map. The author presents nine points that should be implemented to make the environment more conducive to negotiations in the upcoming year.

• How might we learn to live together?
  por Dan Bavly
• The Summit in Annapolis, different from Camp David?
  por George Chaya
• The Importace of Dialogue between Jerusalem and Damascus
  por Mario Sznajder
• Gaza Coup D'état (Part I)
  por Walid Salem
• Forty Years Without a Lasting Peace
  por Dan Bavly

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

While international support for a Two-State solution seems to be promising following the recent summit in Annapolis, a partition of the land west of the river Jordan is not very practical when one takes into account the Israeli settlement policy of the past 30 years, argues the author; he suggests that the solution might lie down a different path: Jews and Arabs alike should learn to renounce their militant ways and, with an internationally backed effort, create an integrated country in which minorities are granted full rights, complete with an educational system that embraces all of the ethnic groups in the area.

Positive developments in Pakistan include Gen. Musharraf’s decision to step down as chief of the army and promise to lift the state of emergency, as well as the appointment of pro-Western General Kiyani as Musharraf’s successor. Obstacles include attempting to hold fair elections within a country that is plagued by strong corruption at the governmental level. These elections will be a vital part of the transformation to civil rule, which will be a key stepping stone in helping Pakistan come out of its severe political crisis, argues the author.

Kosovo’s independence is inevitable, given the failure of multiethnicism in the Balkans, the overwhelming support it has amongst Kosovars, and the fact that Serbia’s grip upon the region is currently only nominal, argues the author. He suggests that the EU should play a more important role in mediating the conflict and attempt to implement the main parts of the Ahtisaari Plan. At the same time, caution must be exercised, so as to avoid a crisis with Serbia or Russia, as well as a repeat of the gruesome violence that gripped the region during the 1990s.