Advisory Board

Professor Shun-jie Ji

The article Civil Liberties vs. National Security: Lessons from September 11th Attacks on America said

It has been a long-lasting debate on the balancing of protection of citizen’s rights and liberties against the national security. The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on America made this issue more intriguing and complicated. It forced people to reflect their commitment to democratic principles. The American government responded determinedly toward protecting the American and the democratic systems. Utilizing the roaring patriotism, the American extended its authority into people’s daily lives. The negative images came with such efforts were seen as racial profiling, taking advantage on public fear, sudden expansion of executive power, playing people’s political tolerance, etc..
 
On the other hand, the September 11th attacks were used by other regimes to allying with the U.S. government based on the very legitimate cause: anti-terrorism. They were accused of becoming more aggressive toward the dissident and the minority group that are fighting for autonomy or ideological grounds. The tolerance of the American government on this stretch of anti-terrorist movement has been seen as the ignorance of civil liberties on the ground of punishing terrorists.

Shun-jie Ji, Ph.D. was the author of this article and is Assistant Professor in the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies at Tamkang University. He earned his Doctoral degree at Michigan State University in Political Science-Urban Studies joint programs.
 
Shun-jie is one of the founding board members and the Deputy Secretary General (2004–2006) of the Taiwan International Studies Association (TISA). He served as full-time Counselor in the Office of the Vice President of Taiwan in 2006; was the Managing Editor of the Journal of Futures Studies (2003–2006) and the Managing Editor of the Taiwan International Studies Quarterly (2005–2006).
 
Internationally, he has been working on issues in human rights, human security, multiculturalism, and sustainable development.
 
Listen to him on Education: Rebuilding or Bypassing our Institutions?