The European Council on Foreign Relations

Securing Liberty - your ideas wanted!

Date: 5th September 2011  |  Author: Susi Dennison ,

Categories: Rule of law, democracy and human rights,
Tags: , human rights, security, war on terror, democracy

Later this month, the world will mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 bombings. This date is now understood to mark a seismic shift in our perceptions of our own security. The terrible events of September 11^th 2001 catapulted the debate over the relationship between security and human rights into the public eye. It also placed this debate – about whether a security policy that departs from human rights norms on issues like detention and interrogation can ever be justified by heightened threat – at the heart of policy-making.

In order to generate discussion among a generation of young people who become politically aware during the last decade, and for whom the ‘war on terror’ paradigm is effectively the norm, ECFR has joined with Central European University, IDEA, and the Open Society Foundation to launch a Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge on the theme of ‘Securing Liberty’.

The initiative is intended to reach out to students across the globe, encouraging them to make a serious contribution to public policy discourse on an issue of major global importance. Entrants will be required to develop, refine and advocate a security policy position in a series of written and verbal exercises throughout the year.  Further detail on this competition can be found at www.gdppc.org.

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