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