...Direct Democracy What is freedom and democracy? Freedom and democracy have multiple different meanings that can be interpreted in many ways. Countries that have never enjoyed these experiences before, for example Afghanistan should ease into this type of democracy. The ideal type of democracy for this county would most certainly be direct democracy where the people are far more intelligent and wise than selfish, greedy politicians, whose time horizon is just the next election. Democracy is certainly not synonymous with freedom. For the most part, democracies are controlled by those people with the financial means to run for office or by those people who are backed by some external power. While we would like to believe that our votes count and that our voice is heard, for the most part, people find themselves increasingly told what to believe by those who have the money or power to have their message heard. If the people who represent us in the government are nothing like us, how can they represent us? They can't. However laws have been passed to make it difficult for anyone without the necessary capital or connections to run for any office for the most part. When the majority of us are slowly regressing towards poverty and the rich have absolute power and influence through both the people who represent us and through the power of lobbies then it is time to examine our options. We are essentially not free. We have been brainwashed into believing we are through the illusion of...
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...Statements and opinions expressed in Uluslararası İlişkiler are the responsibility of the authors alone unless otherwise stated and do not imply the endorsement by the other authors, the Editors and the Editorial Board as well as the International Relations Council of Turkey. Uluslararası İlişkiler Konseyi Derneği | Uluslararası İlişkiler Dergisi Web: www.uidergisi.com | E- Mail: bilgi@uidergisi.com Is Terrorism Still a Democratic Phenomenon? Erica CHENOWETH* ABSTRACT In recent years, multiple studies have confirmed that terrorism occurs in democracies more often than in nondemocratic regimes. There are five primary groups of explanations for this phenomenon, including the openness of democratic systems, organizational pressures resulting from democratic competition, the problem of underreporting in authoritarian regimes, gridlock resulting from multiparty institutions, and the coercive effectiveness of terrorism against democracies. Most of these studies, however, examine the relationship only through 1997. In this article, I explore whether...
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...Howard (2002) stated that "Without hearts and minds one cannot obtain intelligence, and without intelligence terrorists can never be defeated." The terrorist wants the local population on their side and that is the one key to survival. That is why the hearts and minds approach for democracy is a good approach. Democracies are already viewed usually as invaders or pushing their modern lifestyle on a not so modern world. This was a big point by Al Qai'da, pushing that the United States were crusaders against Islam, which was pushed even more with the invasion of Iraq. Understanding culture, local law, land ownership rights, and other issues is a must in this approach. Pushing out bad PR on terrorist operations and making sure the local population knows you are there to help them is another key element. When going to detain or kill a terrorist making sure there is no civilian causalities, or structural damage, makes sure that the people understand you are not there for them. You respect...
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...Op-ed: US Policy on Afghanistan The role of the U.S. in the security and stability of Afghanistan, and what it means to the rest of the region and the world is a relevant topic today. A nation that has been surrounded by invasion, external pressure and internal upheaval since before the time of Alexander the Great, Afghanistan has endured more than most people can ever imagine. Going back to the beginning, the country has been ruled by Persian, Greek, Sassasian and Central Asian empires. In addition, it has also been conquered by the Mongols, British, Russians, and more lately by the Taliban and the U.S. In 1989, with the help of nationalist groups such as the Mujahadeen and the US, who supplied these groups, Afghanistan gained independence from the Soviet Union, which had invaded and remained in the nation since 1979. The US policy program involving the funding and supplying of Mujahadeen shaped the US foreign policy on Afghanistan during the concluding Cold War. Then came the current war. Following the September 11 World Trade Center bombings, the United States accused Osama Bin Laden of the crime and demanded that the Taliban handed over Bin Laden. The Taliban refused to do so, which resulted in the bombing of the impoverished country by the US, and which led to the current war between the two nations. The US recent policy on Afghanistan involves the improvement of the nation’s security and infrastructure, yet this policy is in fact generating more destabilization in...
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...Afghanistan Flag The Afghan flag has three equal vertical bands of black, red, and green and the national emblem at the center. The emblem has an Arabic writing, “Shahadah” on top of a mosque that has a mihrab at the entrance and a pulpit. Two Afghan flags stand on the sides of the Mosque and on the lower side is the name Afghanistan. Two wheat sheaves wrap around the mosque and underneath them is the Hijri year 1298 (an equivalent of 1919 in the Gregorian calendar). The height to length ratio is 2:3, officially three feet by five feet. Afghans adopted this flag in 2013. Black symbolizes Afghanistan’s dark past under different foreign rules while red stands for the people’s blood that poured during the scramble for independence and self-rule....
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...Afghanistan Afghanistan is located between the southern and the central part of Asia. The country holds about 32 million people. The capital in Afghanistan is Kabul. There are a lot of different languages spoken in Afghanistan. This is due to the diversity of ethnicities in Afghanistan. Dari is the official language in Afghanistan although more people speak Pashtun. The country is currently facing a war which started in 1978 during the cold war. The war originated when the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan took action against the communism in Afghanistan. This revolution is referred to as the Saur Revolution. The war in Afghanistan blossomed because of different ideologies in the Countries and large groups were dissatisfied by how the country was ruled. Afghanistan was an independent country before the war but the Soviets saw an opportunity to invade the country. They invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and assigned a new leader in the Country. This lasted about 10 years before the Soviet decided to leave the country. Afghanistan is a Democratic country now but there are a lot of rebels in the country that belong to the Taliban groups. Their goal is to diminish the democracy in Afghanistan. Life in Afghanistan has been known to be hard, especially as a woman. Afghanistan have made progress with women’s rights but the conditions are still bad. Close to 60% of all women get married within the age of 16. The amount of women dying because of childbirth is pretty common in Afghanistan...
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...Afghanistan Afghanistan is located between the southern and the central part of Asia. The country holds about 32 million people. The capital in Afghanistan is Kabul. There are a lot of different languages spoken in Afghanistan. This is due to the diversity of ethnicities in Afghanistan. Dari is the official language in Afghanistan although more people speak Pashtun. The country is currently facing a war which started in 1978 during the cold war. The war originated when the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan took action against the communism in Afghanistan. This revolution is referred to as the Saur Revolution. The war in Afghanistan blossomed because of different ideologies in the Countries and large groups were dissatisfied by how the country was ruled. Afghanistan was an independent country before the war but the Soviets saw an opportunity to invade the country. They invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and assigned a new leader in the Country. This lasted about 10 years before the Soviet decided to leave the country. Afghanistan is a Democratic country now but there are a lot of rebels in the country that belong to the Taliban groups. Their goal is to diminish the democracy in Afghanistan. Life in Afghanistan has been known to be hard, especially as a woman. Afghanistan have made progress with women’s rights but the conditions are still bad. Close to 60% of all women get married within the age of 16. The amount of women dying because of childbirth is pretty common in Afghanistan...
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...University POL300 Professor Popova-Nowak In April of 1978 the pro-Soviet People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew a corrupted Afghan Republic and would begin a domino effect that would culminate on September 11th 2001 in the New York skyline. Jimmy Carter had put into effect a doctrine of stating out loud that the Persian Gulf was vital to United States foreign political interest but showed no open displays of force. Behind the scenes the CIA had be involved with the movement to oust the PDPA. This forced the Russian government to send in 5,000 troops. Their aim was to place a Soviet chosen leader into power and after twelve hours of intense fighting, Barbrak Karmal was put in a plane and flown back to Moscow. This would begin a decade long occupation by the Russians and the United States got what it wanted; A Soviet Vietnam. The United States went to great lengths to supply this war against Communism and the hatred of the Soviets. China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others poured in money, weapons, and military advisors to aid the Mujahideen, the new name of the resistance fighters the CIA was backing. This covert operation was run out of the CIA until March of 1985. February 6th of 1985, President Ronald Reagan laid out his doctrine in the State of the Union Address. “WE must not break faith with those who are risking their lives on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours since birth...
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...21st century. (Brown 04). 9/11 was not simply an act of terror but the most destructive single act of terror since World War 2. Many in the Islamic community saw the attack, as an attack on “the symbolic heart of global capitalism” (Brown 04). 9/11 galvanised the American people, and less then 12 hours after the attacks, president Bush formally declared a “war on terror”. Overnight America’s relationships with Russia, China and India improved. Britain and Australia were also seen as close allies. President Bush and his supporters stressed the need to go on the offensive against terrorists, to deploy the U.S. military, and to promote democracy in the Middle East. (Gordon 07). The U.S is fighting a war on terror and must remain on the offensive. The Bush administration feel, that U.S. power is the foundation of global order, and the spread of democracy and freedom is the key to a safer and more peaceful world. (Gordon 06). Therefore I feel that neo-conservatism and Realism are the theories of International Relations that are most useful in understanding world politics today. Terrorism is a multi-faced problem and requires an aggressive and long-term solution. Any...
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...Afghanistan Diaz, Aida Helen Steinhofer April, 3, 2015 The War on Terrorism: The War in Afghanistan. It was this state of chaos and confusion from which extremist governments like Taliban and fanatics like Osama bin Laden emerged. 86). similarly, their policies about marriage, divorce and other legal proceedings are also derived from their religion (Aronoff, p. He wanted to give back Germany its past glory and respect in front of the world, and for that he wanted to create more living space for Germans and thus he conquered the surrounding German speaking areas and created hatred among the leaders of those countries. This is the only way to co-exist peacefully in today’s world. This is important because it is seen in the past that attempts to bring democracy and socialism in the Arab world have failed so badly that it has made the people of the Arab world to denounce these ideas altogether. This attack is important not only because of how widespread it was; but it is also important because of the way it changed the course of the West towards Islam. With that, the West needs to incentivize the Muslim world to adopt democracy and liberalism so that they see the benefits of these systems themselves. ISLAM AND THE WEST – AN INTRODUCTION Islam and the West are different entities in many ways, but because of the globalization in the world; we see that there is an increasing interaction between these two entities, which becomes a reason for conflict...
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...freedom committed an act of war against our country.” This is how former president George Walker Bush initiated his speech and declared war on terror. He identifies terrorists as enemies of freedom, but are they? Some people would characterize the word “terrorist” as an emotive. Some people would not know what the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is. That makes me petrified. In 1989, USA won the cold war. Many historians and sociologist expeditiously agreed that there now was brought an end to the century of extremes, and the new world order could begin. One of them was Eric Hobsbawn, who stated USA as the, now only, superpower in the world. From 1989-2001, USA transformed the western values such as market economy and democracy to the rest of the world. In this period, USA solved many international conflicts and orderly made the world a better place. I sat down and thought about, why anyone would start this war against terror, who started it, and who was to blame for it? In this analytical essay, I will go through the main points in Bush’s speech. For instance, what does he mean, when he says: “The terrorists are traitors to their own faith”? Furthermore, I will go deeply into the consequences of the war on terror. Can the war on terror have had an effect on the globalization? If so, how big an impact has it played in the last 25 years? I look forward to come up with my subjective answers and theories for you and hopefully, in the end, come up with some possible...
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...Terrorism of 21st Century Sabeena Singh DeVry University April 20, 2014 "Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, and -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong." George W. Bush Addressing the Nation on September 11, 2001. (Intellectual Takeout , 2014) During the 1990s, the end of the cold war led to an entirely new global security environment, marked by a focus on internal rather than inter-state wars. In the early 21st century, new global threats emerged. The attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States clearly demonstrated the challenge of international terrorism, while subsequent events heightened concern about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the dangers from other non-conventional weapons. The organizations of the UN system mobilized immediately in their respective spheres to step up action...
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...| 9/10/2010 | Democracy in the United States of America In the beginning when the new world was not even a thought the European people grew more and more dissatisfied with their monarchy type of government. People yearned for the freedom to do as they wished, worship who they wanted, and work on what skill they felt was their calling. Thanks to Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus discovering a new land “a new world” to the west, slowly but surely these wants by the people became a reality. In this essay I will open your eyes to both the positive and the negative aspects of what type of government the United States of America uses as well as the ever growing issue of the Mosque being built in Manhattan and how the Muslim community is using our laws to their advantage. “Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal in the world.-Abraham Lincoln the sixteenth president of the United States. So what exactly do these words mean? The basic meaning is that justice and equality go hand in hand in our government, which is democracy. Democracy originated from the ancient Greeks, it is said by many scholars that Athens of the fifth-century BCE held the purist for of democracy that there ever was. From the beginning at the birth of this nation there was a democratic style of government in place. This was driven by the need of the people to have a voice, have freedom, and to get away from the European style type...
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...Almost any matter on which the executive or legislature has to decide may become a public issue if a significant number of people wish to make it one. In a democracy, the right of people to freely express their opinions is fundamental. Elected officials should consider public opinion when making decisions. The ways Americans express their opinions vary. They can write letters to newspapers, express, their ideas in online forums on Facebook, blogs and tweets. They vote and organize politically. In July 2011 during the debt crisis President Barak Obama and the republicans in the U.S. House Of Representatives realized how important public opinion was. Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of adult population without public opinion on certain issues, how would we know the wants and needs the public want? Political scientists have not been as concerned with what part the public opinion should play in a democratic polity and have given more attention to establishing what part it does play in actuality. With the examination of many histories of policy formation, it’s been said that no sweeping generalization can be made that will hold in all places. The role of public opinion varies from issue to issue, just as public opinion asserts itself differently from one democracy to another. The safest generalization that can be made is that public opinion does not influence the details of most government policies but it does set limits...
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...Democracy- The myth and the reality Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelley Independent, 29 November 2012 Present times claim to manifest an “Age of democracy”. Since the beginning of the nineteen-nineties a varitable wave of democratization has been sweeping the world. This has been accompanied by a surge of open market-economy. The two systems received powerful fillips from the collapse of socialist polities and economies in the erstwhile socialist countries such as now-defunct Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies. Socialism in these lands crumbled on account of internal factors. They are still in the process of challenging transition from socialist single party states and command economies to multiparty democracies and capitalist, market friendly economic systems. Even those countries with socialist political system such as China and Vietnam are liberalizing their economies with positive results in terms of progress and prosperity. In these nations political liberalization, though at a slower pace is also gradually becoming visible. Similar changes, particularly of political system, took place outside the former or existing socialist countries. From the closing decade of the twentieth century up-to-date a large number of Asian, African and Arab countries in North Africa and Middle-East made dramatic transition from rigidly dictatorial to avowedly democratic systems. Internal and external factors blended in varied mix to bring forth this apparently welcome change. In several...
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