Homeland Security

DATE=1/06/2003

TYPE=ON THE LINE

NUMBER=1-01255 SHORT #1

TITLE=DEMOCRACY VS. TERRORISM

INTERNET=Yes

EDITOR=OFFICE OF POLICY 619-0037

CONTENT=INSERTS IN DALET AND AUDIO SERVICES

THEME: UP, HOLD UNDER AND FADE

Host: This is On the Line, and I'm ---------.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, security took on a new urgency for the United States. Some have worried that the focus on fighting terrorism would lead the U-S to abandon its commitment to promoting democracy and human rights abroad. But the U-S has affirmed that democratic freedoms and the protection of human rights are a key defense against the bitterness and frustration exploited by terrorists. According to Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, strengthening democracy around the world is a priority for our national security and foreign policies.

Dobriansky: Built in into democratic institutions and a democratic society, you have the capacity and the ability to talk, to be tolerant of different viewpoints, to ventilate. You also have the opportunity afforded to you to assemble, to speak your mind, to take different viewpoints, to come out, to say things about your government, what you like, what you don't like about your politicians. And by the way, if you don't like what they're saying, you have a means, through the vote, to get them out. So there are many aspects that are built into a democratic society that really foster, I think, a foundation of tolerance and an ability to really express divergent viewpoints.

Host: Under Secretary of State Dobriansky says the U.S. is not interested in trying to create copies of the American system abroad. She points out that one of the great strengths of democracy is that, as it has spread around the world, it has been adapted to fit the traditions of many cultures.

Dobriansky: We can't pick up our model and just transplant it on the soil of another country. No, you have to take into account there are cultural differences, there are historical differences, circumstances, but there are some fundamental tenets of democracy that exist universally. And democracies that are older, more mature certainly can share their experiences with other emerging democracies.

Host: The United States is participating in a multilateral group called the Community of Democracies to help make that experience available to nations struggling to build democratic institutions. For On the Line, I'm ----------.