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II. Selected Essays from "Terrorism and Democratic Virtues"
Subject Area
Click here
for index to SSRC essays on Terrorism and Democratic Virtues.
"Defend Politics Against Terrorism"
by Peter Alexander Meyers
Peter Meyers discusses the philosophical links between
democracy, freedom, politics and speech. It is speech that
defines democracy. Therefore it is only by talking about and
reflecting on terrorist acts that populations can prevent
these localized acts of violence from terrorizing modern
democracies. For this reason, Meyers calls on the special
courage of citizens to keep talking, despite efforts to
defend against internal threats. It is at times when
terrorism threatens democracy that rights to speech and
debate should be most rigorously defended.
"9/11 and the New 'Anti-politics' of 'Security'"
by Kanishka Jayasuriya
Kanishka Jayasuriya addresses the effects that changed
conceptions of security have had internationally and in
liberal democracies, especially the US since September 11.
The US government has "depoliticized" the claims made for
emergency powers and limitations placed on civil liberties by
describing these measures in terms of "risk management." The
"anti-politics" of this approach to security threatens the
institutions that sustain liberal democracies and truly
global rule of law, since policies are no longer debated in
political arenas. Since democratic institutions are the most
effective way of dealing with international terrorists, who
abhor such politics, Jayasuriya calls for a return to debate
surrounding important questions with implications for
national and international security.
"Guarding the Gates in a World on the Move"
by Aristide Zolberg
Aristide Zolberg evaluates the challenges posed in terms of
immigration policy in the United States following September
11. He describes the scale of the task at hand: the millions
of people who enter the United States each year; the
realities of border leakage from Mexico and Canada; and, the
measures that would have to be taken to keep tabs on
immigrants once they are within the United States. He
determines that that globalization and democracy are at odds
with proposed immigration policies aimed at limiting the
foreign terrorist threat. He calls for more adequate
protection of minority rights in the United States, since
such security policies will disproportionately, and therefore
unfairly, affect certain immigrant and ethnic groups.
"A Human Rights Approach to Sept. 11"
by Kathryn Sikkink
Kathryn Sikkink considers that concern for individual victims
of rights abuses, whether in the United States or abroad, is
the essence of a human rights approach. This approach runs
contrary to "ends-justify-the-means" logic, which is how many
abusive regimes have rationalized unjust policies throughout
the world. Sikkink focuses on a legal, as opposed to
military, approach to bringing perpetrators to justice while
maintaining human rights standards. By trying accused
perpetrators in an international tribunal established by the
United Nations, or even domestic courts (rather than ad hoc
military tribunals), it is possible to create a system that
focuses on the legal responsibility of the individuals who
perpetrated these heinous acts, rather than assigning
collective guilt to the Afghani people, Islamic
fundamentalists or other groups.
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