One of the greatest challenges, according to Begin, is the constant effort to strike the right balance between an effective struggle against terrorism, and keeping the core of democratic values intact. "Before we ask ourselves what we should do, we should first ask ourselves what we should refrain from doing," he said.
Problems arise, said Bogdanor, "because we haven't got a set of rules to govern international society. We need a set of rules that provide for change as well as for stability, and we need to be able to enforce those rules."
As for determining in advance which countries would be the most likely to break those rules, Bogdanor suggested that "the way a country treats its own people is an indication of the way it will behave in international society."
In Beilin's perception, the world has always been asymmetric, but over the past two decades this asymmetry has had more positive than negative results. He pointed to Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and South America as examples of dictatorships being replaced by democracies.
Yet for all that, terrorism has struck a severe blow to democracy, in that it has caused preventive security measures that in places like the US are "frightening," he said. Beilin characterized the level of security checks for anyone entering the US as "a victory for terrorism."
For all that, he asserted, "Terrorists are greater enemies of autocratic states than of democratic states."
Focusing on Iran, Beilin, aware that consensus by the international community remains elusive, said that sanctions against Iran should be "not by consensus but by those countries that understand the dangers of Iran."
The most effective means of getting rid of the Iranian threat was to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said. "The Iranians don't give a damn about the Palestinian people," but use the pretext of the Israel-Arab conflict to spur incitement against Israel, Beilin said. "It will be much more difficult for them to say that they want to erase Israel from the map if there is peace in the Middle East."
Despite what appears to be a stalemate in the peace process, Shultz, who has been coming to Israel for decades, said he had a little sense of optimism based on his current visit, not because of what is happening from the top down, but because of what is happening from the bottom up, namely the improvement in the quality of life of Palestinians living in the West Bank, security being supplied by Palestinian forces and checkpoints being removed by Israel.
"Because people value what has been achieved. They don't want anyone to come in and destroy it with violence," Shultz said.
Copyright 2010, The Jerusalem Post. Reprinted with permission.