Daily Alert Archives

Strong Dictators Cannot Make a Strong Peace

(Ha'aretz) Natan Sharansky - From the beginning, I believed that the notion that strong dictators can make a strong peace was a dangerous illusion. My experiences in the Soviet Union had taught me that there is an inextricable connection between internal repression and external aggression. I believed then that a Palestinian dictatorship, regardless of who was at the helm, would inevitably endanger Israel's security. The idea that there are certain peoples whose values are incompatible with democracy has a long pedigree; it resurfaces each time the West is faced by the choice of whether to support a friendly dictator or to interfere in his internal affairs and bring about changes in his regime. Like the other peoples whose values did not prove inimical to democracy, I have no doubt that the Arabs will also prove the skeptics wrong. While each culture is unique and may have its own ordering of values, I do not believe that any people wants to live in a society where the fear of imprisonment is omnipresent.
2002-07-19 00:00:00
Full Article