By Peter Števkov

The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad will go down in history as one of the most cynical operations by the powers in the Middle East.

And suddenly everything changed in a few days. The world was left in awe, the great powers were silent, Assad surprisingly gave up power and flew to Moscow, Israel acted quickly.

It is almost impossible to unravel the complexity of it all, but something can indeed be unraveled, and it inspires amazement.

While the West celebrated the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the main Middle Eastern protégé of the US and Europe in the region – Israel – bombed the remnants of Syrian military infrastructure. Airports, air defense installations, tanks, ammunition depots, all military targets. According to witnesses, Syria was left with practically nothing in its arsenal.

Israel also rapidly expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights, capturing the peak of Mount Hermon. This is the highest mountain in Syria, which will give Jerusalem unlimited visibility over the entire country. Previously, Israel had a blind spot in its radar coverage of Syria behind Hermon.

Russian and American military bases, the former legal, the latter illegal, continue to exist. Turkey is also fulfilling its goals, as evidenced by Erdogan's recent statement that there are only two great statesmen in the world - he and Putin.

In the case of Israel, this is an illegal action. It is not acting in self-defense, nor under a UN mandate. But it is doing so after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement, who admitted that Assad's fall is a direct consequence of Israeli strikes on his allies Iran and Hezbollah.

He is right, Israel has achieved hegemony in the Levant for now. The contours of what will come of this are still difficult to estimate.

However, Israel's continued destruction of Assad and Syria underlines the cynicism of its motives. The goal was not to liberate the country, but to destroy it. Israel's actions also expose the policy of the West, which pretends that Assad's overthrow is an achievement, but fails to condemn Jerusalem's aggression.

Turkish-Israeli cooperation and Russia's calculation

If we only evaluate the end of the Assad regime, which lasted since 1972, when his father took power, the winners in the region are Turkey and Israel.

Turkey is the main and official patron of the jihadists, who, thanks to Ankara's cover, operated in the border Idlib for years. At the end of November, they rushed out from under the Turkish umbrella, only to be surprised by their own success and the pitiful state of the fleeing Syrian army. As a result, Damascus is heading towards Turkey's subjugation as a vassal state similar to the Syrian vilayet of the new Ottoman Empire. Incidentally, this is the second case in a short period of time when the support of Turkey and Israel has led one side of the conflict to a decisive victory. The first was the capture of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, which resulted in the expulsion of the Armenian population from their historical territory.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden expressed his delight at the fall of the Syrian regime, but there is no evidence yet that the Americans were directly involved in the recent events. However, they were preparing the ground for the fall of Damascus intensively, the long-term effect of their sanctions and the seizure of Syrian oil fields guarded by US troops played a significant role.

The main loser is Iran, which, due to the disruption of the Shiite belt (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon), lost a direct land connection with its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

Russia also lost, but unlike Iran, not catastrophically. Its prestige suffered in particular, but its military bases and diplomatic missions were not touched by the rebels. It seems that an agreement has been reached between Moscow, Ankara and the rebels, and it is currently not ruled out that Russia will reach an agreement with the new power to keep the bases. If that fails, it will not be a tragedy from the Kremlin's perspective. Russia conducts its operations in Africa largely through Syrian ports and airports, but one alternative is transportation through Sudan, where the Russians are negotiating with both sides of the conflict and planning to build a new large port. In the long run, getting rid of the incompetent Assad may be a good idea for the Russians. The Russians understand cynical games as well as the Americans.

The American-Islamist alliance is the rule rather than the exception

For those who became interested in the Middle East during the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the current events in Syria may seem like a scenario from an alternate universe. Former members of al-Qaeda have overthrown a secular regime, but the West is not bothered by this, and the Americans and French even welcome and applaud the change. And NATO member Turkey, as well as Israel – the much-vaunted fighter against Islamism – directly support the jihadist campaign.

How is this even possible? The short answer is that Western leaders have paved the way for the Islamists.

As a result of this support, Damascus on Sunday swapped the red color of its flag for green, and replaced secular Alawite Bashar al-Assad as the country’s leader with the internationally wanted Islamist terrorist Ahmad Hussein al-Shar, known as Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani.

But if we delve deeper, we actually find continuity.

Modern militant Islamism was largely born out of American support for the mujahideen who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan. Many of the mujahideen returned to their home countries after the war in Afghanistan, where they further developed militant Islamism. On a cultural level, the American-Islamist alliance was iconically captured in the film Rambo 3 (1982), starring Sylvester Stallone. Rambo 3 ends with the title: “This film is dedicated to the brave mujahideen of Afghanistan.”

It seemed that this world had ended on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had pitted Americans against Islamists for a decade. But that was soon to change.

In 2012, the Pentagon’s intelligence service, the DIA, warned in a report that a Salafist principality in eastern Syria was in danger, and that is exactly what the forces supporting the opposition want in order to isolate the Syrian regime.

This “principality” did indeed emerge in its first form, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). When the then-DIA director, Michael Flynn, was confronted with the report by the Qatari television station Al Jazeera, he reacted surprisingly. He did not attempt to downplay the report, but instead declared that creating space for Syrian jihadists was a "deliberate decision" on Washington's part.

According to US General Wesley Clark, Syria was one of seven Middle Eastern countries in which, according to a secret document he cited, regime change was to occur after the September 11 attacks. These were Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Iran.

Israel, whose lobby has immense influence on US foreign policy, was to benefit from this. Ideologically, this program was underpinned by US neoconservatives, and military involvement began with the invasion of Iraq, which – as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt describe in detail – was carried out mainly thanks to the contribution of the Israeli lobby. The current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also did his job, lying to the US Congress in 2002 when he said that “there is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking, is working, is advancing towards to the development of nuclear weapons”.

This lie, followed by other lies (including Colin Powell’s famous speech on the UN Security Council), plunged America and the West into tragic wars, the Middle East into severe civil and sectarian wars, but Netanyahu’s country benefited from it. However, the responsibility cannot be shifted; it lies with US President Bush and some of his followers, supported by allies in Europe.

However, military power cannot do everything. Within ten years, the Americans got into deep trouble in Iraq, the domestic population began to reject endless wars, and further adventures were put on hold. Obama was the forerunner in this, and Trump confirmed it.

The backlash from this ill-considered neoconservative policy was so strong that after the Shiite majority took power, Iraq became an ally of Iran. In other words, the Shiite belt to Lebanon could only be created thanks to the American invasion.

Jihadists fighting for diversity

Let us return to Syria and, for the sake of accuracy, emphasize that there is no evidence of direct American support for the Islamic State or al-Qaeda in the country. Washington supports mainly the secular Kurdish YPG militia, against the will of Turkey. However, the actions and statements of the jihadists there are remarkably in tune with the expectations of the American deep state.

An illustrative example is the new head of the Syrian state, Muhammad al-Jawlani, who fought on the side of al-Qaeda in Iraq, where he was captured by the Americans. After his release, he headed to Syria to fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad. He became famous as the founder and emir of the al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In order to gain international legitimacy, he later severed ties with al-Qaeda, merging al-Nusra with other groups into the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) organization. The US government designated Jawlani a global terrorist in 2013 and four years later announced a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. The reward is still up today, but Biden has not stopped himself from rejoicing that Assad has been replaced by this Islamist.

It is safe to say that we cannot therefore assess the sincerity of the US effort to capture Jawlani. In recent years, however, his HTS, under Turkish auspices, has controlled millions of people in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Jawlani has learned to say all the right things during this time, to the point that after the start of the offensive on Aleppo, he declared that in the future Syria, “diversity will be our strength”. He also spoke of protecting Alawites and Christians, and the same prime minister who served under Assad remained in office. The American establishment, such as Fareed Zakaria on CNN, said after taking power that Jawlani had “learned from his mistakes in Iraq”.

Reason for optimism?

The Western press is therefore promoting a narrative about moderate Syrian jihadists. It is impressive that HTS, with its activities in Syria, is so far helping this narrative. The organization has declared a ban on the forced wearing of the hijab by women and has issued orders to its units not to harass foreign journalists. But most importantly: so far there have been no massacres of the civilian population. Only Assad's statues are being destroyed, the luxury property in Assad's villa, the televisions have shown us footage of the presidential garage full of luxury cars, and the anger of the Syrian street. However, we have already seen something similar in Baghdad, Tripoli and Kiev, when there was a change of power. And this was not the end of the story.

What is surprising and probably also positive is that we see coordination between the main power players in the region and the takeover of power seems organized.

There is not that much speculation. For example, it is said that the overthrow of Assad was agreed on December 7th by the Turks, Saudis, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and also Russia, which offered to accept him on its territory. This would mean that no one is interested in a new Libya. After all, the only one who is currently behaving aggressively is Israel.

It is not only the inhabitants of Syria who would like this to be more than wishful thinking. Of course, anyone with a moral compass would be happy if Syria could breathe a sigh of relief after a decade of wars and sanctions and refugees from Turkey and Europe could return home. But, as the classic saying goes, optimism is a refuge for cowards. Therefore, even if we admit that the regional powers mean well this time, we should expect that it will end as it always does. That is, as after regime changes in Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan.

A special chapter of the severely tested Syria is being written by the Christians there. In Slovakia, thanks to the Pontifical Foundation for the Church in Need (ACN), we organized aid for them, and Syrian bishops visited us. We understood here what the West ignored – that the Assad regime protected Christians from Islamists. That is why it is important to monitor what will happen to Christians in Syria now.

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Mourad expressed skepticism after the capture of Aleppo: “This is the end of the great history of Christians in Aleppo.”

It is quite possible that after the total victory of Jawlani’s jihadists, we can apply his statement to the whole of Syria. And let’s hope that the Syrian bishop is wrong.

And if not, we in Europe should remember who caused it.

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Peter Števkov is the deputy editor-in-chief in the Slovak news website Standard.sk.

 

Published with permission. The article appeared first in Štandard in the Slovak language. 

 

 

 

The speech as given by prince Leo von Hohenberg, the great-grandson of archduke Franz Ferdinand in November of 2024 at the Artstetten castle in Austria as a part of a peace initiative.

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Artstetten 2024 11 16

Allow me to clarify right away that I am not a historian, a politician, or philosopher. In fact, I have no particular qualification to stand here and speak to you, other than by an accident of birth. I am, however, a father, a husband, an officer of the Austrian army reserve, and a Christian, and I feel a duty to try to do whatever I can in the service of peace. Just like all of you here, I want to safeguard our beliefs, norms, and freedoms as the basis for a fulfilling and peaceful life for the next generation.

The upheavals of the last decade with mass migration, the total erosion of the traditional
values of the West and, more recently, general warmongering have prompted me to make a statement here. The assassination of my great-grandfather heralded the first catastrophe of the 20th century, which was preceded by a wave of moral confusion and, ultimately, enthusiasm for war, not unlike our current situation.

Before I can speak about peace, I would like to step back and analyze, how we came to our current situation: a divided world that is again steering dangerously near to world war, and which is currently experiencing a war of a different kind.

It is not a war fought with weapons like in Ukraine or the Middle East, but a much deeper war, a spiritual war. It is a war over the public and political mind, and it is fought with all the might and financial power of big, international institutions. Globally centralized uniformity is the aim, and only those who conform are allowed to join and dip into the taxpayer’s money pot.

Most people either don’t care or don’t see the need to care, others bend the knee and comply because they feel they have to, but whether we want it or not, whether we ignore it or not, we are in the midst of this war.

We must be aware that this war is fought with very subtle means: there are no battle fields, no execution commandos, no gulags in the traditional sense.

By redefining concepts, and selecting wording, by changing norms through universal
repetition of mantras in media, film, and television, through changing school curriculums,
selectively manipulating data with the help of AI, and the use of other subtle techniques,
opinions are influenced, cultural identities are shifted, our social fabric is destroyed, our
voting behavior is edited, and we are frightened by new-world ideologies into a state of
oblivious submission.

Whoever does not comply is cancelled. Access to their money is frozen, work and travel
permits taken away, and they are thus “put away” with the flick of a switch, as we have
already seen in some countries of the so called western “democracies.” How did we get here?

It always begins with a call for tolerance: first we are asked to tolerate anomalies, then we promote them in a show of civilized, unbiased maturity. In a next logical step, we legalize them and even celebrate them, until by the end we are persecuted when we still call them by their true name.

As Dostoevsky rightfully said: “Tolerance will reach a level that intelligent people will be
banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles.”

If you are tolerant of everything, you stand for nothing, and can therefore be manipulated into anything, and that is where we are going. War is peace, and peace is war. It feels like 1984, Brave New World and Animal Farm are no longer works of fiction.

In Service for Peace

Most Christians misunderstand tolerance completely. You know, Jesus didn’t eat with sinners because He wanted to appear tolerant, inclusive, and accepting. He ate with them to call them to change to a fruitful life with Him. His call is for the transformation of life, not the affirmation of utopic ideology. It’s about conversion to all that is good, truthful, and beautiful.

Ladies and gentlemen, our obligation to the next generation to safeguard peace, is to generate the courage for the responsibility to save normality! We must influence not only our immediate surrounding, but our culture by standing up for normality against these
“normaphobes” and their destructive influence on our cultural identities and the family.
I recently heard the German expression “Mut zur Verantwortung,” which roughly translated means: “to have the courage to accept responsibility.” This struck a deep chord within me and got me thinking. I consider a traditionalist someone who has the utmost respect for God, humanity, and his forefathers. A traditionalist does not long for the past to the detriment of the present or the future. A traditionalist does not wallow in the past and does not gloss over historical mistakes. Through the lessons learned of the past, he accepts his responsibility for the future!

A traditionalist has such respect for the cost of the lessons learned by his ancestors, that he guards against amnesia with all his faculties. Let me repeat this: A traditionalist has such respect for the cost of the lessons learned by his ancestors, that he guards against amnesia with all his faculties!

The most obvious and essential such lesson is the cost of war: an undeniably inefficient way to deal with conflict which we resort to again, and again, and again, vowing that each time will be the last. A similar lesson is, that all attempts at instating coercive forms of government have consistently resulted in misery and annihilation. It is neither courageous nor responsible to impose ideology disguised as leadership.

Take the current trend of global organizations calling their uncontrolled power “governance”
for example. These organizations are heavily influenced by global conglomerates and their
financiers, undemocratically imposing their interests and globalist utopias, by instating laws
which were not voted for by their sovereign, the people.

Historically, supranational overreaching authoritarian governance has failed because of the
tendency to overlook the identities of the nations it seeks to govern. If, as a nation, you do not
know what makes you unique and what you stand for, someone else will.

The nation-state format is the natural form of human organization, with not only co-operation
between nations, but the precise safeguarding of the definition and identity of each individual
nation. Let us not confuse centralization of power with international cooperation.

Therefore, a truly courageous and effective supranational government should have as its sole
objective the safeguarding of the culture, history, and the economic and political freedoms of
each individual member state.

A truly courageous and effective supranational government would therefore restrict itself
solely to supranational matters, ensuring the mandate of the people over the imposition of
artificial agendas. In other words, bottom up not top down. A truly democratic cooperation
between states should respect the patrimony and legacy of each individual state.

Unfortunately, European, and global institutions only pay lip-service to supranational
principles. Through the short-sighted prism of legislative periods, legal and regulatory action
becomes the sole objective. The recently ratified “emergency laws” voted in by the World
Health Organization are an example of this kind of dictatorial legislation. Power needs
control!

We are experiencing the concerted breakdown of national identity and personal freedoms,
and are currently being encouraged to dismiss every belief, custom and norm, and replace
them with a “new truth.”

We obviously have not learned from history. I can think of a few times in our recent history
when the stubborn imposition of ideology against all truth, has resulted in unspeakable
suffering and offense to God.

So, how can the respect of our forefathers help us to protect our civilization from the
overreach of utopian organizations and guarantee a bright and peaceful future?
I believe the answer lies with the man in the mirror. God gave us the ability to turn our
thoughts into deeds. From deeds come habits, and habits shape our life. Where we choose to put our thoughts collectively, is what shapes our society. God has given each of us the ability and freedom to think, to train our mind to focus on all that is righteous, true, and God-given.

Nobody, whether a believer or an atheist, can contest the validity of The Ten Commandments, or as one could call them the 10 tips for life.

Divine freedom of thought is designed to protect us from the tyrannical imposition of
ideologies. Our Christian heritage is designed to protect us from misguidance. We are
Divinely programmed to know that there are absolute truths, and that “personal truths” are
opinions not facts, and they are merely a distortion of the truth.

The most blatant example of the distortion we are being subjected to is language. Language is
the tool that not only expresses our thoughts but conditions the way we think and act. In the
last 15 years we have witnessed a rapid change in the way things are called and the new
vocabulary uses euphemisms to distort the truth. Which sounds better: “castration and
mutilation” or “gender affirming healthcare?” “Infanticide” or “reproductive healthcare?”
Censorship or “safeguarding from misinformation?” A different choice of wording will
change your perception of a concept, it will change your thoughts and actions. We must fight
against these mind games. Do not underestimate your God given sense for the Truth. If
something smells fishy, it probably is!

In order to be a vehicle for change and peace, there are everyday habits that we can exercise as citizens:

- Be attentive to words, to what you choose to listen to and what you read. Be aware of
how you express your thoughts, be selective and conscientious of your vocabulary.
- A responsible person exercises healthy skepticism of all forms of media and has the
courage to form independent views regarding current events by following their God
given compass.
- Question trends. Don’t be afraid to be the black sheep. Remember that if you follow
the herd, you will end up stepping in what it leaves behind!
- Limit your screen and audio time, re-discover the classics, the ancient philosophers,
actively seek the knowledge of our forefathers, talk to your elders, teach your
children!
- Even the most conflict-shy among us should actively seek out opportunities to speak
to others about all things and use our sense of what is right and just as a guide.
Whether in a sympathetic environment, such as the one here today, or in a more
contrarian one, your credibility and integrity, your inner moral fortitude, provides the
most sincere and affective arguments. “This just doesn’t seem right to me,” or “can
you explain that to me?” are talking points that everyone can respect. Do not be afraid
to speak your mind, even if it is only within your immediate surroundings. You will
be surprised how many people will agree with you.
- To avoid feeling isolated and powerless, actively seek out conversations with likeminded
people, to strengthen your resolve and spiritual well-being.
- When out among strangers, look away from your phone and try to initiate casual
conversations, with the cashier, the taxi driver, the fellow passenger on a train or
plane for example! Every encounter, no matter how trivial, is a divine opportunity:
you never know what effect your words can have on another person.
- Pray that in your own insignificant way, the Holy Spirit can work through you. Be
sincere in your love of your neighbor, God will do the rest.
- Seek God’s wisdom and guidance in any way you can and have the courage to stand
up and speak up!

Finally, do not allow these trying times to make you feel like a powerless victim. Do not give
in to feelings of insecurity or downright fear. Actively fight the temptation to cocoon yourself
into comforting passivity and compliance against your better judgement.

Allow your mind to think outside the mainstream narrative. Discipline yourself to
respectfully question authority and opinions of so-called experts.

It may seem impossible as an individual to fight against the corruption of the collective mind.
However, we can take back the power from anonymous institutions. Change happens when
you refuse to be conditioned by the status quo. Change happens when you refuse to quietly
accept the omnipresent narrative.

As Saint Theresa of Avila taught us:

"Christ has no body now but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands,
Yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes,
You are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours."

 

 

 

This is the speech delivered by Dr. Jurášek, a counselor to the Slovak prime-minister, at the Conservative Summit, held in Bratislava in November 2024. Presented here with the kind permission of the author.
-- from the Editor
Nov. 29, 2024

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What is the best way to preserve and spread national and conservative values?

For long years I believed it is this: to deeply follow your conscience, intuition, what you feel deep inside, do it with your full heart, positive attitude, pure intention and to not care whether it is popular or politically effective. I believed that if you do the right thing, then God, Providence, Fate, vis maior – you name it – will make the rights thing happen at the right time.

For me, that meant I did not care about what is popular, just what is true; I did not care whether my articles were read by a hundred or by a hundred thousand, whether I was praised by anyone, whether I would one day be elected or have a career in politics. I did not want any sponsors, I did not want to work with political parties. I did not want any money for what I was doing. It had to be pure, volunteering, bottom-up, grassroots. That was the purest form of activism I could envision. I felt as a speck of light against a big, bad system.

Actually, there is a name for this approach. It was coined by Václav Havel, with whom I disagree on many things, but I believe he got this one right. He named it the “power of the powerless”, which basically means that if you face a big, bad, totalitarian system, it might feel hopeless at first. But if you observe more carefully, you find that the system has many internal tensions and inconsistencies. Many people follow it out of fear, greed or mindless, mechanical habit; there is very little authenticity and morality. So even though the system may seem powerful from outside, it is dead inside.

Thus, all one has to do is to live according to their moral standards, authenticity, do small, every day, civic acts of justice and they can be sure the evil system will crumble to dust – sooner or later. You don’t know how, you don’t know why, but it is a given. In paraphrase, if you have good intentions and follow them honestly, God will take care of everything else.

And I am still convinced of it now. But I learned that sometimes, Providence, or God, works in ways you would not expect.

A year ago, still deeply entrenched in the “power of the powerless” principle, I unexpectedly got the offer to become an advisor of the prime minister. After some thought, I gratefully accepted, and viewing politics from inside, I learned several lessons.

First, the forces we are standing against are immensely powerful and have a spectacular head start. Of course, I knew of this before, but now, I see it from the inside, in my everyday work, is a whole new experience. The “system” we are standing against is brutal. From this follows that while “power of the powerless” is a viable and important strategy, it should not constitute all of our activism. Especially, if life or Providence, gives you the option to be a bit less powerless, you should not hesitate to use it. You are not just a lilly of the field, but you have been entrusted with some talents.

Second, we are all people, full of faults and morally conflicted. No one is perfect, but that doesn’t mean they cannot stand up for the right thing. And I realized that Providence sometimes picks people who are not ideal, but can do the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. A fresh example is what happened last week in the US. Donald Trump – against all mainstream odds – will return to the White house. While he is hardly an ideally moral person from the conservative viewpoint, I believe that – in the broader scheme – in many ways, he is standing on the right side.
There is a reason why Donald Trump has made it to the White House twice, and none of us here has, and why Robert Fico has made it to the Prime Minister of Slovakia twice, and none of us here has – although we may think we are better representatives of conservative moral values.

And this is my challenge to conservatives – and there are conservatives like this, even in this room – who somehow shy away from working with people like Donald Trump, Robert Fico and others because they may seem not nice enough – which seems “unconservative” – or they, according to the media, are corrupt or whatever. Our work should be with everyone who, at least partly, shows an open heart for conservative values and we should be helping them to become a better version of themselves, if they are willing to listen.

But there is a red line. We have all heard rallying cries of the progressives in the sense that politicians like Fico, Trump or Orbán will in short time steamroll liberalism and deconstruct democracy. That is, of course, absurd fearmongering. They don’t want it, they don’t need it and they don’t have the means to do it. Given all the circumstances, all they can do, is make the system less imbalanced, and a bit fairer towards conservatives. And slow down the progressive steam roller.

However, odds may change in the following decades. And we must be very wary not to become the monsters we are fighting now, as Nietzsche would warn us.

Many see what is happening now as a war about the future of our civilization, or even our very survival. I don’t disagree. On the other hand, with a war mentality, you think differently. Under an existential threat, all is suddenly allowed. It brings black and white splits and contempt towards the other side. Let’s face it: some conservatives can measure up to progressives in the fanaticism and one-sidedness of their beliefs.
Thus, we must always be reminding ourselves, that – even if we are fighting – we are fighting for something, not against. We are fighting for a society that is living according to natural law, but is free at the same time, a society that has picked the right side consciously and willfully, and not because it was forced to do so.

This is the path of a conservative activist. All three ingredients are needed: we have to have good intentions, we have to be practical (the lion and the fox), but without losing respect for the other side, and strive for freedom, not a society in which we unfairly dominate – as the progressives often do today in many ways. That is no easy task, but we are not conservatives so that our work is easy, but so that what we do is right.

Thank you.

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Dalibor Jurášek is a lawyer and activist, co-founder of the Institute for Paradigmatic Reforms. He co-organized several civic initiatives and petitions in the areas of freedom of speech, education, and environmental protection. Currently, he serves as an advisor to the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic on civil society issues." Visit his website at: www.ippr.sk/en