euro|topics - Peter Wagner

20/11/2008

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Wagner, Peter

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Magyar Narancs - Hungary | 24/09/2008

Peter Wagner über den Kampf gegen den Terrorismus

The war against terror entered its eighth year on September 11 2008. Despite some partial successes strategic victory is still a long way off, writes Peter Wagner in the weekly magazine Magyar Narancs: "No doubt the war against terror has had positive results. Nothing comparable to the destruction of the World Trade Center has happened in the last seven years, and flying has become safer. The terror attacks in Madrid, London and other European centres have shaken up the governments on the Old Continent and made clear to them that they too are threatened by international terrorism. This has fostered cooperation between the secret services of the EU states and drawn attention to the radical Islamic groups hiding out in the EU. ... Al-Qaida's main operational area is limited on the one hand to the periphery of Western civilisation, and on the other to the Islamic World. Above all, the North African countries must be seen as a potential recruitment sites and targets for terrorists. This has been demonstrated by the many arrests and bomb attacks that have taken place there. ... The American military campaign in Iraq must be regarded as a failure. ... Washington must finally realise that the war against terror - both in Afghanistan and Pakistan - cannot be won by military means. Instead, civil society must be strengthened in these countries from the base up."

Frankfurter Rundschau - Germany | 29/04/2008

Peter Wagner on the dangers of individual interests for democracy

Sociologist Peter Wagner, who lectures in Trento in Italy, writes that Berlusconi won the last Italian elections because many voters hope that under his government they will be allowed to continue with their business undisturbed, even though that business may not be entirely legal. "Many of those who voted for the new government know they are doing something that is not in accordance with republican ethics. ... The elections faced the people of this country with the choice of either developing their community in a spirit of self-determination or allowing the rapid decline of all sense of community and the gradual repeal of the collective regulations that guarantee the 'freedom' of groups and individuals to prevail against others. ... Particularly in Europe's richer countries with a longer democratic tradition, the ruthless pursuit of individual interests, which can produce a winning majority in elections, leads to an erosion of democracy the consequences of which are perhaps slower to become visible than in an authoritarian regime - but no less severe."

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