2005-02-21

Ha'Aretz: Sharansky's Influence

Israeli official and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky is profiled in this article in Ha'Aretz, which examines the influence of Sharansky's book "The Case for Democracy" in American and Israeli circles. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have cited the book as a major ideological influence. As Ha'Aretz' Yoav Stern explains:
The basic principle of the theory is simple. Terror and war stem from the existence of tyrannical regimes that deny their peoples' liberty. In order to maintain their regimes, the tyrannical rulers must direct the anger of the masses to an external enemy - and lead them to war. The toppling of these tyrannical regimes, not by force but rather by means of economic and public pressure, will lead to the expansion of the circle of free democracies - which do not fight one another.

Read the article at the link.