Safe Democracy Foundation - Safe Democracy

Choosing between security and freedom

Lev Weiss writes on the rise of a security craze in the United States following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In Weiss‘ opinion, security is a farce, impossible to ensure without empowering government with authoritarian police power. Fear reduces our capacity to understand the complex and human phenomenon of fundamentalist Islam, and gives government the leeway to limit our freedoms. There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.

Stability or Civil War in 2007?

George E. Irani explains why Lebanon finds itself at a crossroads between stability and civil war. Despite these clear and distinct choices, the world is left wondering which path the Land of the Cedars will take. Irani writes that the actual tensions in Lebanon are provoked by the clash of visions between the government and opposition parties, submerged in a region full of international actors such as Israel, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States and France. To deconstruct the present and future of Lebanon, George E. Irani analyzes each of the major plotlines in the Middle East and predicts their paths in coming years.

The Fight against Terrorism

Ricardo Angoso explains that, according to NATO‘s own objectives to defeat terrorism, establish security and support democracy, Afghanistan is a failed war. In Angoso‘s opinion, no foreign occupying force has ever been able to control Afghanistan, and none ever will. It is time that the Atlantic Alliance learns from the past, because the War in Afghanistan is only going to get worse.

The consequences of oil politics

Elisa Valle Marcos explains why Nigeria, the largest producer of petroleum in Africa, and home to vast deposits of natural gas, is considered by many experts as one of the most failed States in the world. With corruption, insecurity, and poverty running rampant, the Nigerian government has failed continuously to offer solutions to its many problems, even after the transition to democracy in 1999. And as the oil business continues to destroy communities, and the Nigerian government to ignore human rights, the question remains whether or not the international community can put pressure on Nigeria to change and lose the title of failed State.

From California to Vladivostok

Rafael Calduch analyzes the dispute surrounding Turkey‘s membership to the European Union, drawing parallels to the expansion of NATO. In Calduch Cervera‘s opinion, while both are drawing upon the need to consolidate the geopolitical borders of Europe, the EU‘s growth tends towards restrictive criteria, while NATO‘s is based upon expansionist criteria. Calduch Cervera reflects on the changing energy market, the EU‘s need to juggle both Washington and Moscow, and the changing nature of Europe‘s security borders.