Democracy & 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.[1] The event, dubbed the 'Neoconservative International'[2] 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).
Contents
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”[3].
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.[4] 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."[5]
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”. [6]. 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 republic[7]
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 [8]. The missile shield was described by NATO secretary general as “A Key Element For Security”[9].
- Cuba: Rafael Rubio, the president of the Association for the Transition of Cuba attended to offer a dissident perspective against the Cuban regime. [10]. Rubio discussed the importance to Cuba of what he called “real paths to the goal of sovereignty, democracy, reconciliation, and rights”. [11]. Conference attendees Jan Bubeník and Karel Schwarzenberg, were both arrested and expelled from Cuba for meeting with dissidents[12][13]. 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 [14]”.
- 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.”[15]. 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 [16]
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
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
Known Participants
32 of the 166 of the participants already have pages here:
| Participant | Description |
|---|---|
| Sheldon Adelson | Multi-billionaire pro-Israel US sponsor of the US government |
| Ronald Asmus | Expanded NATO eastwards |
| José María Aznar | Prime Minister of Spain 1996-2004, "If Israel goes down, we all go down", various deep state connections |
| Irwin Cotler | Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada 2003-2006. "Totally unabashed defender and supporter of Israel". Member of numerous spooky think-tanks. |
| Richard Dearlove | Head of MI6 from 1999 to 2004. Publicly announced in 2020 that he believed Covid-19 came from a laboratory. |
| Ron Dermer | Benjamin Netanyahu's closest adviser and strategic consultant |
| Marc Ellenbogen | Patron of the very intelligence-connected Henry Jackson Society and Chairman of the Global Panel Foundation |
| Amir Abbas Fakhravar | |
| Jeffrey Gedmin | US spooky/hawkish neoconservative academic |
| Reuel Marc Gerecht | |
| Colleen Graffy | US spook and propagandist |
| Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg | Born with silver spoon as scion of the zu Guttenberg family, but blew his political career in 2011 after academic plagiarism was discovered. Since then has stayed in spooky think-tanks. |
| Jana Hybášková | Czech diplomat |
| Saad Eddin Ibrahim | Egyptian neoconservative sociologist |
| Toomas Ilves | President of Estonia with a lot of Deep State connections, including membership of the Munich Security Conference Advisory Council. |
| Bruce Jackson | US spook. His later career focused on accelerating the integration of the Western Balkan countries, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia into the European Union and NATO. Member of the Henry Jackson Society. |
| Josef Joffe | Publisher-editor of Die Zeit |
| Garry Kasparov | chess champion turned Putin critic. |
| Martin Kramer | Wrote that Middle East experts "failed to ask the right questions at the right time about Islam" |
| Ronald Lauder | Former US Ambassador to Austria, "the principle force behind the privatization of the WTC", Jewish power broker. As of 2020 promoting internet censorship to prevent "hate crime". |
| Joe Lieberman | Lawyer-Senator whom Sibel Edmonds named in 2006 as one of her "Dirty Dozen". |
| Jiří Pehe | Czech presidential advisor who attended the 2001 Bilderberg. Formerly worked for Freedom House and Radio Free Europe. |
| Richard Perle | "widely considered a core representative of the neoconservative political faction" |
| Tomáš Pojar | Czech "terror expert" and Czech Ambassador to Israel 2010-2014 |
| Nina Rosenwald | Influential neoconservative and operator in many activities of the pro-Israel lobby in the US |
| Michael Rubin | senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute |
| Karel Schwarzenberg | Deep state connected Czech diplomat and politician, MSC regular |
| Natan Sharansky | Former dissident of the Soviet Union, neocon, Bilderberg, Le Cercle |
| Jamie Shea | Chatham House, spooky conference attender. As NATO spokesman during the Kosovo War he popularized the propaganda term "collateral damage". |
| Stefano Silvestri | Bilderberg Steering committee, Italian deep state functionary. |
| Bret Stephens | Neoconservative writer at the New York Times |
| Veton Surroi | Albanian politician; WEF/Global Leaders for Tomorrow 1999 |
References
- ↑ Natan Sharansky, PRESIDENT BUSH TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS, Accessed 08-March-2009
- ↑ Jim Lobe, A Neo-Conservative International Targets Iran, Lobelog.com, 9 June 2007
- ↑ Marc F. Plattner, Background Paper, Background Paper for the Conference on Democracy and Security, Accessed 08-March-2009
- ↑ The Ghost House: If Prague can be free, why not Sudan? by BRET STEPHENS, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 2007.
- ↑ Natan Sharansky, PRESIDENT BUSH TO ADDRESS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS, Accessed 08-March-2009
- ↑ Marc F. Plattner, Background Paper, Background Paper for the Conference on Democracy and Security, Accessed 08-March-2009
- ↑ Karen DeYoung, U.S., Poland Closer to Deal on Missile Defense, Washington Post, 2-February-2009, Accessed 11-March-2009
- ↑ Dan Bilefsky, 08-July-2009, International Herald Tribune, U.S. and Czech Republic sign agreement on missile shield, Accessed 28-February-2009
- ↑ Radio Free Europe, NATO: Alliance Chief Calls Missile Defense A Key Element For Security, 05-May-2008, Accessed 08-March-2009
- ↑ Democracy and Security Conference, List of Participants, Accessed 25-February-2009
- ↑ Rafael Rubio, Remarks Democracy and Security Speech, Accessed 28-February-2009
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Radio Prague, (2005), Cuba expels Czech senator, Accessed 26-February-2009
- ↑ Anne Bayevsky, Prague Marching Orders, National Review Online, 8-June-2007, Accessed 09-March-2009
- ↑ Security & Democracy International Conference, Conference Program, Accessed 01-March-2009
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