“Any assassination is an assassination. It's cold, it's terrible. I'm against any capital punishment. Only the Lord has the right to take away life because he's the giver of life. And assassination stands against democracy, against civilization, against a civilized life of people. Alas, the situation in Lebanon is very chaotic and many innocent people lost their lives because they have a state within a state, an army within an army and the respect for life is not high enough.” PeopleStatesEnoughLife IsLostSituationLordDemocracyColdTerribleCivilizationArmyPunishmentInnocentCivilizedAlasGiverChaoticAssassinationCapital PunishmentLebanon Author:Shimon Peres
“Democracy is premised, in some measure, on majority rule, and democracy is difficult in a situation of concentrated inequalities in which a large, impoverished majority confronts a small, wealthy oligarchy.” DifficultSituationDemocracyMajorityInequalityWealthyOligarchyMajority Rule Book:The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century Source: The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century
“In the United States the government has become less important. So, it's democracy, but as each year passes it seems that the government plays less of a role in people's lives, and so they're living in whatever situation their employment imposes upon them more than they're living in a grand political system.” PeopleYearsImportantStatesPlaySeemsGovernmentPoliticalUnitedSituationRolesUnited StatesDemocracyEmploymentPolitical Systems Author:Will Oldham
“Ever since our country came into existence, we have always assumed that we are better than the Arabs. But we are noticing that these are no longer backward people. Suddenly we are confronted with a new situation - the fact that the Arab world maybe thinks just as democratically as we do, perhaps even more democratically. Where does this leave us? After all, we're supposed to be the only democracy in the Middle East!” PeopleThinkingWorldDoeCountryFactsExistenceSituationDemocracyMiddleEastOur CountrySupposed To BeMiddle EastNoticingArab WorldNew SituationsDemocracy In The Middle East Author:Tom Segev
“Vaclav Havel was the most amazing man in terms of being the combination of somebody with massive moral authority, great courage for having espoused the concepts of democracy, freedom throughout a very difficult communist period, a very modest man, and somebody with a fabulous sense of humor and the idea of being able to see the absurd in situations.” MenIdeasAbleDifficultTermSituationMoralDemocracyPeriodsAuthorityConceptsAbsurdCombinationMassiveSense Of HumorCommunistModestFabulousMost AmazingDemocracy FreedomMoral AuthorityAmazing Man Author:Judy Woodruff
“I think in Pakistan there is already democracy and no dictatorship. And recently a few years ago, the Pakistani people stood against the dictatorship of [Pervez] Musharraf and compelled him to resign. So now it is the people's democracy so I don't think any chance that the people should stand against this administration. Pakistan's situation is different than Egypt. They cannot be compared.” PeopleThinkingShouldYearsDifferentChanceSituationDemocracyYears AgoAdministrationDictatorshipEgyptPakistanCompelledMusharraf Author:Shahbaz Bhatti
“The Arab spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence and everybody else wants it. How about us, when do we get it, when do we make our move? And you have a situation where someone has been in power for decades, where the integrity of elections, democracy and security have really not been debated or discussed and most people suspect that elections are rigged and that the democratic rotation that elections are supposed to ensure doesn't really happen. And when this goes on for a while you are sitting on a powder keg.” PeopleWantHas BeensCountryHappensMovingBitsProcessSituationDemocracySecurityGoes OnIntegritySpringSittingElectionIndependenceDemocraticDecadesSuspectsPowderRiggedRotationArab SpringKegs Author:Kofi Annan