Democracy put to the test

09/14/2001 BOZEMAN -- As the nation deals with the tragedy of the terrorism at the World Trade Center on Tuesday, America and its leaders must never lose sight that we are a democracy and must respond accordingly, says Franke Wilmer, Montana State University political science department head and expert on international relations.

            "We must acknowledge our pain and our loss," she said. "But at the same time we must maintain our commitment to adhere to the rule of law and the principles of justice, investigation, trial and punishment. We don't just patently respond with indiscriminate violence."

            "I took hope when I heard the president call this a test of our democracy and a test we will pass," she said. "We should have confidence in our international law enforcement agencies. They can bring to justice the people responsible."

            She points out that it was the work of these international law enforcement agencies that brought the terrorists to justice after the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.    Wilmer cautions that Americans need to see the acts of terrorism as acts committed by individuals and not by all people of Middle Eastern descent.

            "When we stereotype people we are doing the same thing that the leaders of terrorism are doing when they propagandize that all Americans are accountable for the actions of their government," she said.

            Wilmer characterizes the United States' current political strategy for foreign relations as outdated.

             "We've been looking for enemies in the form of states. We're looking for enemies in the wrong places. We're trying to make them fit the old mold."

            In the 1970s the prospect of World War centered around super powers and the likelihood of war through terrorism was very small. Today, Wilmer says, that situation is completely reversed.

            "If you start a war with terrorists there will be a response in return. We need to treat it as a criminal act,” Wilmer said. “There is never any justification for terrorist violence. In today's world the only way we can increase our defense is to work with our allies. The majority of foreign states recognize that it is in their best interest to combat terrorism. It's not a quick fix."

            Wilmer's comments about the state of international relations in an interview published in the Tuesday edition of the Exponent, the MSU student newspaper, were eerily prophetic. She noted that the biggest threat to the United States was from forces that couldn't be controlled by military strategy, such as terrorism.

            The new chair of the MSU Political Science Department, Wilmer's research and expertise focuses on political violence and conflict. She teaches international law, international human rights and Native American politics.

Send questions or comments to Brenda McDonald: bmcdonal@montana.edu. Or you can send letters to Brenda McDonald, MSU Communications Services, 416 Culbertson Hall, Bozeman, MT 59717.

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