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The Status Quo of Civil Liberties and the Struggle against Islamist Extremism in Germany

05 February 2010

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation

  


Cordially invites you to a Roundtable Discussion

New Administration - New Policies?
The Status Quo of Civil Liberties
and the Struggle against Islamist Extremism in Germany


With

Alexander Ritzmann

Senior Research Fellow, European Foundation for Democracy
Former Vice Chairman of the Free Democratic Party’s Parliamentary Group
of the Berlin State Parliament (2001-2006)

Friday, February 5th, 2010, 12:00 PM

 

The Willard InterContinental Hotel, Crystal Room
1401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004
 


In the aftermath of the attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit, the debate about airport security has come up again on both sides of the Atlantic. While a majority of Americans is in favor of the use of full body scanners at airports, the issue is at the center of a controversial debate in Germany about the trade-off between security concerns and civil liberties. This debate underlines the challenges Islamist extremism poses to liberal democracies and the quest of politicians to balance liberty and security.

We are delighted that Alexander Ritzmann, an expert on civil liberties and terrorism, will address these questions. Mr. Ritzmann is a Senior Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. In his research he focuses on the transatlantic aspects of the 'War on Terrorism' as well as terrorism in Europe. He was a member of the Berlin State Parliament from 2001 to 2006 and was the Vice Chairman of the Free Democratic Party's parliamentary group. He served as the ranking member of his party on the homeland security, intelligence and data protection committees and was the spokesman for homeland security.

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