Terrorism and Freedom
Balancing national security and individual rights is the most significant issue faced by liberal democratic nations in developing an effective and legal counterterrorism strategy. As Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
"Yet, the ultimate responsibility of government is to protect its citizens. The Israeli-American Professor of Law Amos Guiora will critically question both the limits of freedom of speech and freedom of religion in Western nations by examining them in the context of the danger posed by religious extremism. Guiora will argue that in order to protect external and internal communities alike, it is of vital importance that governments introduce limits on religious freedom and freedom of expression in the context of religious extremism. He will support his views by exploring the different policies and security circumstances of five countries: the U.S., the UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Israel.
Amos N. Guiora is a Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law of The University of Utah. Prior to this, he served for 19 years in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the Israel Defense Forces where he held senior command positions related to the legal and policy aspects of operational counterterrorism. His recent books include Freedom from Religion: Rights and National Security (Oxford University Press 2009) and Global Perspectives on Counterterrorism (Wolters Kluwer 2007). Guiora is a Research Fellow of the International Institute for Counterterrorism, Interdisciplinary Center (Herzlia, Israel) and Corresponding Member of The Netherlands School of Human Rights Research (University of Utrecht).
Marcel Brus is Professor of International Public Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen. He is a member of the governmental advisory body for International Law. His research concentrates on the interaction between international law and politics, the development of international law as a system of law, sustainable development, and international dispute settlement.
This lecture is organised in cooperation with the Department of Sociology of the University of Groningen
Interesting links
Profile Amos N. Guiora
Wikipedia Amos N. Guiora
Book ‘Freedom from Religion’