Peoples and movements across the world opposing neoliberal globalization also articulate the desire for, and possibility of, peoples’ security. But the war on terrorism, in labeling any form of dissent as terrorism, is, in part, an attempt to destroy the capacity of peoples’ movements to achieve security. Conference participants concluded that ‘the war on terrorism threatens the core of democratic nations. The very foundation of the United Nations and the UN instruments and mechanisms of human rights have already been undermined and are moving towards collapse.’ Yet, while authoritarian regimes in Asia may have been the immediate beneficiaries of post-September 11 hysteria, the people of Asia could still ‘seize this moment’ to begin achieving real democracy; in part, through popularizing the idea of peoples’ security as an alternative to militarization and the war on terror.
