Democracy and Security International Conference

The Democracy & Security International Conference also known as the “Democracy and Security: Core Values and Sound Policies” conference was held in Prague on the 5-6th of June, overlapping the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm.Natan Sharansky, PRESIDENT BUSH TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS, Accessed 08-March-2009 The event, dubbed the 'Neoconservative International'Jim Lobe, A Neo-Conservative International Targets Iran, Lobelog.com, 9 June 2007 was organized by the Prague based Prague Security Studies Institute, the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and Jose Maria Aznar's Madrid based Foundation for Social Analysis and Studies (FAES).
==Conference Aims==
The aim of the conference was summed up in a background paper by Marc F. Plattner, that argued “building a world of free and democratic states should be our long-term goal”. The world view conveyed by the paper was one where “Increasingly the world is divided between liberal democracies and regimes that are tyrannical”. These tyrannical regimes represent a “growing security threat”, and they are “drawn together” by a “common fear and hatred of liberal democracy”. The hostile regimes “Support terrorism and threaten not only to acquire but to use nuclear weapons”. The regimes themselves were described as comprising of “The unholy trinity of Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Lukashenka” Marc F. Plattner, Background Paper, Background Paper for the Conference on Democracy and Security, Accessed 08-March-2009.
According to the Wall Street Journal it was the personal intercession of Natan Sharansky which persuaded George W. Bush to attend in spite of the objections of the State Department.The Ghost House: If Prague can be free, why not Sudan? by BRET STEPHENS, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 2007. Sharansky stated at the conference "In today's world of confrontation, there is no better weapon than the promotion of democracy," He argued for the importance of dialogue with dissidents and policy makers, saying "This conference gives those responsible for policy-making an important opportunity for direct dialogue with the dissidents themselves."Natan Sharansky, PRESIDENT BUSH TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS, Accessed 08-March-2009
Looking at the conference agenda and the list of attendees (below), the neoconservative credentials of the conference are easily inferred. The subjects discussed focus on expediting political change in selected countries: Mynamar, Cuba, Iran, Belarus. Venezuela were also singled out for criticism in the background paper of the conference”. Marc F. Plattner, Background Paper, Background Paper for the Conference on Democracy and Security, Accessed 08-March-2009. The potential for dissidents to achieve political change in these countries was a key issue for discussion at the conference. The role of central european states in EU-Russian relations was also discussed, with the conference being underwritten by NATO, these discussions are likely to be centred round the planned U.S. missile defence system which is planned to based in Poland and have a radar base in the Czech republicKaren DeYoung, U.S., Poland Closer to Deal on Missile Defense, Washington Post, 2-February-2009, Accessed 11-March-2009
==Neoconservative Foreign Policy==
Strong elements of neoconservative ideology were prevalent throughout the attendees and agenda at the conference. Neoconservatives advocate an interventionist often aggressive foreign policy and this was reflected through the conference delegations attitudes towards other selected nation states: 
* Russia: NATO were conference partners and one of the key speakers was Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Schwarzenberg signed the agreement with the United States that the radar base for the U.S. European defence missile system was to be installed on Czech soil Dan Bilefsky, 08-July-2009, International Herald Tribune, U.S. and Czech Republic sign agreement on missile shield, Accessed 28-February-2009. The missile shield was described by NATO secretary general as “A Key Element For Security”Radio Free Europe, NATO: Alliance Chief Calls Missile Defense A Key Element For Security, 05-May-2008, Accessed 08-March-2009. 
* Cuba: Rafael Rubio, the president of the Association for the Transition of Cuba attended to offer a dissident perspective against the Cuban regime. Democracy and Security Conference, List of Participants, Accessed 25-February-2009. Rubio discussed the importance to Cuba of what he called “real paths to the goal of sovereignty, democracy, reconciliation, and rights”. Rafael Rubio, Remarks Democracy and Security Speech, Accessed 28-February-2009. Conference attendees Jan Bubeník and Karel Schwarzenberg, were both arrested and expelled from Cuba for meeting with dissidents Mimi Whitefield, (2001), Detentions in Cuba open a bitter divide,Miami Herald, Acessed 26-February-2009 Jennifer Rankin, 19-July-2007, European Voice, The Prince, Accessed 28-February-2009. Several of the Czech delegation at the conference including Dana Baschová and Igor Klimes are affiliated with the NGO People in Need who aim to “support the opposition movement in Cuba Radio Prague, (2005), Cuba expels Czech senator, Accessed 26-February-2009 ”.
* Belarus: Belarussian dissident Aliaksandr Milinkevich the President of the Political Council of Democratic Forces of Belarus was at the conference and a conference briefing paper described Belarus along with Venezuela and Iran as an “unholy trinity”.
* Iran: Iranian relations were described by Anne Bayevsky reflecting on the conference “There was an elephant in the room that dominated conversations in the coffee breaks and the halls – Iran, its genocidal ambitions, its mad dash towards acquiring nuclear weapons, and its familial relationships with terrorists prepared to use them while screaming the suicide bombers closing argument of choice: Allah Akbar.”Anne Bayevsky, Prague Marching Orders, National Review Online, 8-June-2007, Accessed 09-March-2009. Reza Pahlavi Opposition Leader to Clerical Regime of Iran was also in attendence.
==Conference Agenda==
The conference was split into discussion groups who tackled the following issues:
* Has the democratization process reached an impasse?
* Does the process of democratization contribute to security?
* What are the right ways to make the transition from a totalitarian/authoritarian regime to a democracy?
* The role of dissidents in society
* The role of democratic states, international institutions and the media in the global security environment
* The role of central Europeans in EU-Russian relations Security & Democracy International Conference, Conference Program, Accessed 01-March-2009
==Participants==
DSIC Conference Participants (Detailed)
Issam Abu Issa | Peter Ackerman | Mudawi Ibrahim Adam | Sheldon G. Adelson | Miriam Adelson | Mithal al-Alusi | Ludmilla Alexeeva | Leyla Aliyeva | Jafar Alshayeb | Zainab Al-Suwaij | Ingrid Amer | Elias Amor Bravo | Sami Angawi -- Director General, Amar Center | Uzi Arad | Arie Arazi | Ronald D. Asmus | Ghassan Atiyyah | Shlomo Avineri | José María Aznar | Hüseyin Bagci | Rafael L. Bardají | Dana Baschová | Anne Bayefsky | Pavel Bém | Mokhtar Benabdallaoui | David Bercuson | Antonín Berdych | Rudolf Blažek |Michael Bohnen | Roberta Bonazzi | José Brechner | Diario di America | Jan Bubeník | Fraser Cameron | Alberto Carnero | Oldrich Cerny | Chin-mo Cheng | Irwin Cotler | Devon Cross | Cina Dabestani | Priscilla de Callier | Pepper de Callier | Richard Dearlove | Pavol Demeš | Ron Dermer | Barbara Dillon Hillas | Linda Duffield | Gabriel Eichler | Bassem Eid | Helmut Elfenkämper | Mohamed Eljahmi | Marc S. Ellenbogen | David Elliman | Amir Abbas Fakhravar | Oleksandr Feldman | Javier Fernandéz-Lasquetty | Charles Fries | Jeffrey Gedmin | Jared Genser | Reuel Marc Gerecht | Farid Ghadry | John K. Glenn | David Goder | Vera Golovensky | Richard W. Graber | Colleen Graffy | Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg | Václav Havel | Anna Y. C. Ho | Jim Hoft | Mamoun Homsy | Karen P. Hughes | Jana Hybášková | Saad Eddin Ibrahim | Toomas Hendrik Ilves | Bruce P. Jackson | Vladislav Jandjuk | Pavle Jankovic | Josef Janning | Roman Joch | Josef Joffe | Daniel B. Johnson | Jon Juaristi | Sven Jürgenson | Cheol Hwan Kang | Garri Kasparov | Nibras Kazimi | Eli Khoury | Iain King | Jakub Klepal | Igor Klimes | Tomas Klvana | Julian Knapp | Bessel Kok | Petr Kolar | Jana Kosarkova | Martin Kramer | Irina Krasovskaya | Veronika Kuchynova Smigolova | Ziv Nevo Kulman | Ieva Kupce | Ronald S. Lauder | Joseph Lieberman | Tod Lindberg | Junning Liu | Herb London | Jeff Lovitt | Woon-Ki Lyeo | Monika MacDonagh-Pajerova | Kanan Makiya | Toshio Masuda | Margarita Mathiopoulos | Clifford D. May | Aliaksandr Milinkevich | Jorge Moragas Sanchez | Karinna Moskalenko | Cameron Munter | Joshua Muravchik | Rami Nasrallah | Fiamma Nirenstein | Michael Novak | Jan Novák | John O’Sulivan | Reza Pahlavi | Zbynek Pavlacik | Antonio Pedauyé | Jiri Pehe | Richard Perle | Ross Perrone | Walid Phares | Marc F. Plattner | Tomas Pojar | Daniel Polisar | Roman Polonsky | Tomasz Pompowski | Andrei Popov | Shay Porat | Harold Rhode | Roger W. Robinson, Jr. | Berel Rodal | Nina Rosenwald | Allen Roth | Michael Rubin | Rafael Rubio | Ivo Samson | Andor Sandor | Mohsen Sazegara | Christian Schmidt | Jirí Schneider | Steven Schneier | Karel Schwarzenberg | Jirí Sedivý | Natan Sharansky | Jamie Shea | Ssu-tsun Shen | Stefano Silvestri | Jakub Slosárek | Eugeniusz Smolar | Jan Snaidauf | Radek Spicar | Bret Stephens | Veton Surroi | C. Holland Taylor | Yulia TymoshenkoDemocracy and Security International Conference, List of participants List of Participants, Accessed 25-February-2009
==Affiliations==
Adelson Family Charitable Foundation | Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies | Amar Center | American Enterprise Institute | American Islamic Congress | Ano pro Evropu | Association for International Affairs | Belorusian Government in Exile | Benson Oak | Bizlink Group | Brandeis University | Bubenik Partners | Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute | Case for Freedom | Center for National and International Studies | Committee for Democratization of North Korea | Diario di America | Die Zeit | Dillon Hillas & Dillon, LLC | Elmrock Capital | European Foundation for Democracy | EU-Russia Center | FAES Foundation | Forum 2000 Foundation | Freedom House | Freedom Now | Gateway Pundit | Global Panel Foundation | Hassan II University | Helsinki Group | Hoover Institution | Hudson Institute | Institute for Policy and Strategy | International and Security Affairs Center Fund | International Center on Nonviolent Conflict | International Tolerance Center | Iranian Enterprise Institute | Iranian Freedom Institute | Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy | Las Vegas Sands Corp | Middle East Technical University | New York Sun | New York University | Obcansky institut | Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group | Pembroke College | People In Need | Policy Association for an Open Society | Prague Security Studies Institute | Project on Transitional Democracies | Quantum Communications | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | Reform Party of Syria | Ronald Lauder Foundation | Scarlet Communications Group | Sudan Social Development Organization | Tamkang University | The Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies | The German Marshall Fund of the United States | The Hebrew University | Transatlantic Center | Union Liberal Cubana | United Civil Front | University of Alcalá de Henares | UPI | We Remember Foundation | Westminster Foundation for Democracy
==Contact, References and Resources==
===Contact===
*Website: www.democracyandsecurity.org
===Resources===
*Jim Lobe, A Neo-Conservative International Targets Iran, Lobelog.com, 9 June 2007
*Anne Bayefsky, Prague Marching Orders: Walking the Talk, National Review Online, 8 June 2007
*George Bush, Fora.tv, Bush Speech on Democracy and Security, Accessed 26-February-2009
*Karel Schwarzenberg,Karel Schwarzenberg's Speech at “Democracy and Security International Conference” (Prague, June 5, 2007), Accessed 26-February-2009
*Rafael Rubio, Remarks Democracy and Security Speech, Accessed 28-February-2009
*Security & Democracy International Conference, Conference Program, Accessed 01-March-2009
===References===
Category:ConferencesCategory:Czech Republic