Suchergebnisse

On the occasion of the bicentennial of the publication of Kant's "Treatise on perpetual peace", the author attempts to evoke and actualize that classic of modern philosophy of politics. According to Hajo Schmidt, the strong point of Kant's concept was his realism which prevented him from slipping into intellectual, utopian idealization of human nature and political relations among people. Having in mind not only the rational but also irrational aspects of human nature, i.e. the insuperable chasm between good and evil, Kant in that respect offers edifying peacemaking propositions. This he achieves by advocating the concepts of free individuals, independent national states and the cosmopolitan unity of humankind. These three moments make up the content of Kant's concept of republicanism. Their identity and plurality are the foundations of the world peace. (SOI : PM: S. 18)

"Democracy provides an environment in which the protection of basic human rights is best guaranteed." (Our Global Neighborhood: The report of the Commission on Global Governance, New York 1998). A comparative analysis of available data on state security services of several European states and the US points to the fundamental theoretical tenets concerning the role and the functioning of these services in democratic environment. Since their beginnings, these agencies have been the chief instrument in national security protection. Historically, in various states and in different periods, the unique mission of security services - the protection of national security - has not included uniformity of content. Among other things, this is largely due to a lack of an unequivocal definition of the concept of national security and a miscellany of "perceptions" by the ruling structures of certain states. This is why security services in totalitarian regimes, in t name of protecting "national security", have violated human rights. Due to their specific role within national security systems, security services restri certain rights of certain individuals and organisations even in democratic societies. However, democratic societies are characterised by the fact that security services operate strictly within the law and that such violations are minimal. In other words, in democratic states, security services violate some civil rights in order to protect the key sections of national security, democratic society, and community rights. (SOI : SOEU: S. 150)

The author analyses political, philosophical, ethical and legal implications o the trial in which, in August of 1997, some former members of the Politburo of the United Socialist Party of the former Democratic Republic of Germany were sentenced to prison terms after they had been found guilty for the murders committed by the East German border patrols when trying to prevent people from fleeing to the West. The legal grounds for such a sentence is dubious, not only because it runs counter to the ban on the retroactive enforcement of legal provisions but also because it presupposes the universal validity of the western concept of human rights. If the intention was to react legally to what, from the Western point of view were unpardonable acts during the communist reign, then the most prominent representatives of that system should have been - in accordance with wartime law - treated as the enemies defeated in a (cold) war. (SOI : PM: S. 77)