 By focusing once and for all on helping the Palestinians build a free society, I have no doubt that an historic compromise between Israelis and Palestinians can be reached and that peace can prevail. |
| Japan is not a Western democracy. The Japanese have kept their traditions, culture and heritage, but they have joined the community of free nations. |
| Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society. |
| In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned. |
| It is not surprising, then, that in the decade since Oslo began, Arafat used all the resources placed at his disposal to fan the flames of hatred against Israel. |
| Non-democratic regimes always need to mobilize their people against external enemies in order to maintain internal stability. |
| Arafat rejected the deal because, as a dictator who had directed all his energies toward strengthening the Palestinians hatred toward Israel, Arafat could not afford to make peace. |
| There were no dissidents then in the USSR because they were all killed. |
| Only weeks after Oslo began, when nearly all the world and most of Israel was drunk with the idea of peace, I argued that a Palestinian society not constrained by democratic norms would be a fear society that would pose a grave threat to Israel. |
| On the other hand, if the free world is concerned with how a new Palestinian leader governs, then the peace process will have a real chance to succeed. |
| This scepticism is the same scepticism I heard a generation ago in the USSR when few thought that a democratic transformation behind the iron curtain was possible. |
| Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected. |
| The message of the free world to any potential Palestinian leadership should be a simple one: Embrace democratic reform and we will embrace you. |
| My optimism is not based primarily on the successful march of democracy in recent times but rather is based on the experience of having lived in a fear society and studied the mechanics of tyranny that sustain such a society. |
| By helping readers understand these mechanics, I hope they will appreciate why freedom is for everyone, why it is essential for our security and why the free world plays a critically important role in advancing democracy around the globe. |
| When we are unwilling to draw clear moral lines between free societies and fear societies, when we are unwilling to call the former good and the latter evil, we will not be able to advance the cause of peace because peace cannot be disconnected from freedom. |
| People may believe that there can be a society where dissent is not permitted, but which is nonetheless not a fear society because everyone agrees with one another and therefore no one wants to dissent. |
| I have no doubt that given a real choice, the vast majority of Muslims and Arabs, like everyone else will choose a free society over a fear society. |
| Believe me, the drug of freedom is universally potent. |
| The only peace that can be made with a dictator is once that must be based on deterrence. For today, the dictator may be your friend, but tomorrow he will need you as an enemy. |
