Democracy and security

April 22, 2004, Prague

Rytířský sál, Senate of the Czech Republic

The participants of the debate, moderated by Alexandr Vondra, discussed their views on the current global security situation following the terrorist attacks in New York and Madrid and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They discussed counter-terrorism and terrorist-prevention strategies and the different approaches in Europe and the United States. One of the topics was the threat of the "Big Brother syndrome", which is seen by many in the enhanced efforts of governments to intrude in the privacy of both foreign nationals and their own citizens. Participants tried to determine what limits on freedoms of movement, speech and faith the international community is willing to endure in order to ensure its physical security.

The roundtable on "Democracy and Security" was organized by the Forum 2000 Foundation in cooperation with the Prague Society for International Cooperation, the Prague Atlantic Security Studies Program (PASS), and the Senate of the Czech Republic.