With this isolation and autonomy, people increasingly tend to believe, for better or for worse, that they alone are responsible for their own fate.

It would be prudent to adapt the law to this state of facts, and to give employees, too, a say in their destiny.

By their participation in all forms of public life in their country, they are able both to shape their own destinies and to contribute to political change in the larger society.

Today we live in a democratic society, but many people not only in the Czech Republic still believe that they are not true masters of their destiny.

In 1974, the touted Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition never materialized, as the Liberal Democrats were wary of hitching their fortunes to an unpopular and discredited politician.

Thus, in spite of persistent conflicts and hot spots, the world has moved resolutely ahead along the exhilarating path of positive change, thereby giving people a better chance of controlling their fate.

He was describing democracy at its best, its most noble, as it should be, but not always is freely mobilized men and women able and willing to change the course of their destiny.

So what we celebrate in these tragic heroes are people much like us, but with an uncommon talent and capacity to lend historical resonance to their destiny.

In reality, for them the conflict has come to symbolize the anachronistic perpetuation of an unfair colonial order, to represent their political malaise, and to embody the perceived impossibility of their being masters of their destiny.

Contrasting the findings of these surveys demonstrates that over the two years when sectarian violence has increased, Iraqis increasingly view their fate in a national, rather than communal, context.

The world s power centers are beginning to counterbalance each other, undermining hegemonic ambitions and heralding a creative instability based on genuine multipolarity, with people gaining greater freedom to define their fate in the global arena.

In 2004 and 2006, I was involved in conducting two nationwide public opinion surveys in Iraq. Contrasting the findings of these surveys demonstrates that over the two years when sectarian violence has increased, Iraqis increasingly view their fate in a national, rather than communal, context.