Security Leaders Endorse New Digital Human Rights Network

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Launched today, www.softpower.org is an independent network of security leaders who see advancing human rights in the minds of the next generation online as the real frontline of the war on terror. It is the product of the Center for Human Rights and International Affairs and a collaboration of www.goodofall.org and the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC.

Softpower.org is an international security strategy and network for the digital age. It has adopted the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as its framework and seeks to promote its vision of universal rights through the world's first nearly universal communications medium. 

The emergence of a more globally conscious and interconnected "digital native" generation has made it possible to inoculate more people than ever before with the inspiring truths of human freedom – including many parts of the world where ordinary people face tyranny.  Yet American foreign policy and military leaders have devoted much more energy and resources to hard power weaponry.

A wide array of top security leaders have endorsed the Softpower.org vision for spreading the timeless ideals of human rights to digital natives as a vital security imperative, including:

General Richard Meyers (USAF, Ret.), Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Admiral James G. Stavridis, Ph.D (USN, Ret.), Dean of the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (Tufts) and Former Commander, US European Command, Supreme Allied Commander Europe; The Honorable William Webster, Former Director Federal Bureau of Investigation, Former Director of Central Intelligence, and Chairman of the Board of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Ambassador R. James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence; The Honorable William S. Sessions, Former Director Federal Bureau of Investigation; Dr. Bibi van Ginkel, Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute; Ali Soufan, Member of the Board of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; General Charles Wald (USAF, Ret.), Former Deputy Commander, US. European Command; Ambassador Dennis Ross, Professor of Diplomacy, Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and Former Director, Near East & South Asian Affairs, National Security Council.

Matthew Daniels, J.D., Ph.D. the founder of the Center, said, "We have the opportunity to advance human rights and international security by using technologies and building networks that were not available in the pre-Internet era to promote the ideals of universal human rights on a global scale."

He continued, "Freedom is an addictive drug, and once people internalize the principles of liberty and individual rights, the heart is immunized against violence and extremism. It is the ultimate weapon against oppression."

Stavridis noted, "We are excellent at launching Tomahawk missiles; we need to get better at launching ideas."

General Myers has observed, "Every dollar spent on the soft power of ideas is worth 100 in hard power."

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