Fulbright Scholar Dr. Andreas Gofas to Discuss Liberal Democracies' Efforts to Combat Terrorism
Who:
Dr. Andres Gofas, Fulbright Lecturer
What:
Lecture: Terrorism and Liberal Democracies
Where:
St. Francis College, 8th Floor Brothers' Conference Room
180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY
When:
Thursday, April 25, 2019
11:10 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
FREE & Open to the Public
Dr. Andreas Gofas, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Emile Noël Senior Fellow and Associate Professor of International Relations at NYU School of Law, will deliver an address to the St. Francis College community, examining the balance liberal democracies like the United States must strike between providing security and protecting individuals' civil liberties when combating terrorism.
Discourse around terrorism often posits that the threat is all-pervasive in Western democracies. To counter it effectively, the resulting argument goes, nations must infringe to some degree on individual civil liberties – free speech, privacy, right to assemble – in order to provide adequate protection to their citizens and residents.
In his talk, Dr. Gofas will call into question two fundamental assumptions that make "security over civil liberties" argument work: that there is actually increased terrorists activity in liberal democracies and that terrorism today is significantly different and more dangerous than terrorism of the past.
By casting doubt on those two assumptions Dr. Gofas will demonstrate that prioritizing security and protecting individual civil liberties are not, in fact, mutually exclusive pursuits.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Isa Camyar.