Winter 2011
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Academic Commandos |
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Walking in Their Footsteps in Ashdod |
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University Student Since 8th Grade |
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Dance with Your Fears |
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Heavens Above |
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Democracy is NOT the Key to Peace in the Middle East
"If Jordan and Egypt were democracies then there wouldn't have been any peace agreements. The relationship between democracies and peace simply does not work in the Middle East."
Prof. Benyamin Neuberger of the University's Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication, stands the democratic peace theory – a theory that has dominated world politics for nearly a century – on its head when it comes to the Middle East.
Prof. Benyamin Neuberger
We spoke with Prof. Benyamin Neuberger, senior faculty member of the Open University's Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication upon his return from a conference held at the European Academy Berlin (Europaische Akademie Berlin), a leading academic center for addressing European topics and questions. Prof. Neuberger was invited to address the international group of academicians on Democratic Peace Theory and its application to the Middle East. In the end, he provided proof positive that this theory is just that – a theory – when it comes to applying it to the search for peace in the Middle East. Democratic peace theory is probably one of the most powerful liberal contributions to the debate on the causes of war and peace. Indeed, the theory has been used to justify US intervention in World War I ("to make the world safe for democracy") and in the Iraq War in 2003. The theory has gained so much support that it has dominated the international stage, setting policy guidelines for numerous countries. "Democracies rarely wage war on one another" averred President Bill Clinton in 1995 and most policy makers across the globe nodded amiably in agreement. |