Structured Response for Q posted 10/9

               When the Western media reports on the Middle East and North Africa region, they often combine the separate nations into one large, homogenous area that shares the same values, ideologies, and political structures.  Our news sources talk of the Middle East or the Arab World as a land without democracy and freedoms.  While many of the governments of the Middle East do infringe on the rights of minorities, women, or other social groups within their borders, how they respond to the voices of these people differs greatly across the state lines.

                The repressed groups in the Middle East, women, ethnic minorities, and religious minorities being just a few examples, seek out representation and change in their government through social movements.  The members of these groups organize and work towards bettering conditions for themselves in their home countries.  Through voter registration, boycotts, and public displays of civil disobedience and awareness, these social movements are able to gain support for their cause, and become larger causes for concern to their governments.  These movements work within the civil society to change the political system and gain better representation.  Weldon explains civil society as the “arena in which it may be possible to use argument, persuasion, and shame to counter raw coercive power.”  The different political structures of the nations in the MENA region affect how successful the social movements in civil society will be.

                In Lisa Anderson’s writing on comparative politics in the Middle East and North Africa, she explains how the relationships between the people, the ruling body, and the military are what factor into the strength and security of the regime.  She explains that countries such as Turkey, Tunisia, and Egypt are strong because they have a solid bureaucracy and a military that isn’t too involved in it.  It is this factor that allowed for the Arab Spring revolts in the last few years, a perfect example of social movements at work, to become successful.  The military was able to recognize the power of the people and the changes they wanted to make without the lens of the regime, and decided to support them instead of President Mubarak or Ben Ali.  The governments of pre-2003 Iraq, Libya, and Syria, have successfully squandered social movements in their nations.  This is why it required military force to rid Iraq of Hussein and Libya of Qaddafi, and why Syria still experiences internal warfare.  This difference poses the key challenge to social movements in such countries.

Relfection

   My reflection this week has to do with our structured responses on the influence of social media/networking today.

   The United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that the government would be enforcing strict media control on what citizens can and cannot post online. According to Aljazeera, "any posts 'to deride or to damage the reputation or the stature of the state or any of its institutions,' are punishable by a prison sentence." The government will not tolerate any internet materials--posts, photos, videos--that may threaten "public order" and that go against UAE law. Furthermore, "anyone that  'creating or running websites that deride or damage the reputation or stature of the rulers will face a minimum jail sentence of three years,' The National, an English-Language daily, said." These rules include the president, the vice president, the rulers, princes, etc. 
   How ironic it is that the UAE is now working to suppress social media and freedom of speech after we have been discussing the role it plays in social movements and revolution! It is hard to image a world in which we are denied our freedom of speech, especially in a day and age in which we are so vocal through the many different media outlets.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012111317358997704.html

Reflection for the Week of 11 November 2012

Last night, between the evening news and today's morning news, it was reported Israel used a drone strike to assassinate the military leader of Hamas in Gaza.  I find a lot of the Israeli-Palestinean conflict to be very over-my-head, but these events made their way onto my facebook news feed.  Many of my Jewish friends from back home were posting and sharing this status:

When you hear the news later today about Israel attacking gaza and killing the head terrorist today please keep in mind that 12,000 rockets were launched at civilian towns from gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza Strip a few years ago, about 1000 this year, and over 130 in the last 3 days. You will not see that on TV... Please share
עם ישראל חי

I was pretty annoyed to see so many of my friends posting about this.  It completely disregards the Palestinian perspective, making Israel the victim.  When I read this, I felt it gave off the tone, "Israel is the real victim here.  Stop worrying about the Palestinians, because they are the enemy and the aggressor. "  I think this an extremely ignorant perspective.  Both sides have been attacking each other for YEARS.  And if any group of people are victimized, it's the Palestinians.  Israel cuts off much of the resources the peoples in Gaza and the West Bank need to survive (e.g. water).  And with Israel becoming a state, the Palestinians have been kicked off of the land where they lived for thousands of years and treated brutally throughout the Israeli occupancy of Palestinian territories.  

This said, I don't label myself in accordance to the conflict.  I would say I am "pro-peace" more than anything else.  Neither side is completely in the right or the wrong.  But if we keep pointing fingers and blaming the other, there is no way the conflict will ever be resolved.  

Weekly Reflection 11/15

There's news from around the globe this week.  Following our reelection of Obama, China has named Xi Jinping as its new leader, replacing Hu Jintao.  Mr. Hu has played an incredibly defining role in China's growth in the last decade and more.  The increase in economic activity and strength can be largely attributed to his policy.  And with this increased economic activity has come closer bonds with the US.  Interestingly, Xi Jinping was not the pick of Mr. Hu to be his replacement.  It will be interesting to see how their political difference will change China's relationship with the US.  This story can be tied into the politics of the MENA region as well, with a large focus of Mr. Xi's speech regarding corruption within the ruling communist party.  Xi himself was born into a party family and has worked in the system all his life.  This patrimonialization reminds me of both what we have spoken about for Syria, and my groups' study of Algeria.

Structured Response 11/15

                I once read an article stating that the internet was the greatest modern invention, citing its unparalleled ability to connect people from around the world and allow for the sharing of ideas.  Never before have we so easily been able to build off of the ideas of others, especially those who are not famous or accredited in any way, as one would be if they publish a book or scholarly article.  The basis of an idea can truly come from the masses.  This is what is so important about social media’s role in the Arab Spring revolutions.  There was an immediate connection from civilian to civilian.  People weren’t hearing about revolutions in other areas from news sources either public or private, they heard about it from the status updates and tweets of the protesters themselves.

                This topic reminds me of learning about the Enlightenment and its role in the French Revolution.  The disillusioned public, yearning to rid the country of the king, met at Salons to discuss actions and theories regarding the creation of a government for the people.  In these cases, people knew where to go for the latest information about the revolution, the latest thoughts of the protesters, and support each other’s ideas.  One knew of specific locations where the thoughts of the masses could be shared.  Isn’t social media much the same way?  The protesters in the MENA region knew where to look to find support in their dissent.  And looking to a web address instead of a real one only made it easier.

Structured Response

Obviously, social media such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming more and more central to people's lives all over the world. Most teenagers, it seems like, go online at least once every few hours  (either by phone or computer) to check social networks. However, I do not believe that these networks are necessarily as successful when used as vehicles to create social change.
Facebook is particularly memorable in regard to the Egyptian Revolution, an aspect that we saw in the documentary. I do believe that Facebook was important in spreading the idea, but I do not think it can be solely credited. All it takes is a desire for change, shared by millions, and a powerful movement can be ignited. Word of mouth is an important tool that should be remembered here, as is the concentration of people in Cairo who help to spread the idea. Facebook is important to those who have access to the internet and who have the time to check it--but not everyone had this at the time, and still not everyone does today.
Another movement associated with Facebook and other social networks is Kony 2012. In April 2012, the Kony video went viral on Facebook, and within a few days, most people had heard of it in the United States (or so it was at my high school). However, Kony 2012 was not exactly successful in its Facebook outreaching in April-the "Cover the Night" movement, promoted on Facebook, failed.
Again, I believe that social networking is valuable--it is becoming more and more important as access to internet is spreading--but I also believe that the old-fashioned way of spreading ideas, through personal interactions, can be more successful.

Structured Response 11-14-12

Social media, in my opinion, is the defining factor of the Arab Spring revolts. Never before in history could humans so instantaneously communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings, and plans to millions of others around the world. What used to take the effort of inviting people one-by-one, either by letter, phone, SMS, or face-to-face can now be done with a few clicks of a button. Putting together such a large social movement is a Herculean effort to begin with, but social media is really what made it possible so quickly. Need a pound of bread to feed protesters? Just send a quick tweet with the correct hashtag, or a Facebook post, and chances are someone in the protest who is monitoring social media will see it and get it to you. You heard that the police are planning to shoot any protesters? Same deal, let the world know via social media. Without social media, the protests would have been severely handicapped in relation to how the protests were handled with social media.

However, as powerful of a tool social media was to the revolts, they would have happened regardless. The people were tired of being oppressed across the Arab World, and the powder keg was ready to explode at any point. Had social media not existed, it may have been longer for them to occur, or have taken longer to have any effect, but they would have happened.

Structured Response 11 Nov 2012

I think it's hard to disprove the effect of social media in the Arab Spring revolts.  In many countries where freedom of speech was limited and mobilization efforts were really only safe underground, Twitter and Facebook provided a way for activists to get in contact with the public and the world in a quick and efficient manner.  Also, things like tweets and facebook posts can be up for anyone to see, making communication efficient and widespread.  For example, the protests in Tahrir Square were incredibly well-planned: there were men and women doing security checks on all of the protesters in the square to ensure everyone's safety.  If social media were not present during the uprisings in the MENA region, I doubt there would have been people doing security checks on all of the protesters.  The people would have to rely more on a he-said she-said method of communication.  Although this form of communication can work, details will be lost as the message spreads, leading to confusion and disorganization.  

While I think social media was helpful in the proliferation and ultimate success of many of the Arab Spring uprisings, I don't think it was at all necessary in their success.  I think any social movement can be successful if there are cracks within the ranks of the government because widespread popular protest can break them open.  Look at any social movement in the past, like the Civil Rights Movement or even the French Revolution.  Certainly, neither of those movements used social media as a tool of protest, yet they both are renowned in history.  People don't need to have cell phones or internet to make a difference, they just need to get mad, and then get even with their governments.  

Reflection 11/13/12

After all that we studied in this class this year it was really fitting to end the readings with a selection on social media and its influence on social movements. As the tail end of the millennial generation we have been privileged enough to see the evolving impact of technology and social media in our own domestic politics and politics around the globe. The future of liberal, humane social movements, ones that truly wish to correct wrongs in their own countries and provide a better future for their children. It may sound like idealistic ranting, or it may be the side effect of a semester's worth of chronic under-sleeping or maybe its the Led Zeppelin playing on Pandora, but this idea really gives me hope for the future and its a nice and appropriate note to end the readings on.

Structured Response 11/13/12

         The revolts of 2011 have for sure been sold as having been based on new social media. Whether this is done primarily as some idealistic outreach to the youth of the world or is based on fact is up for debate. For myself I tend to believe the impact of social media on the 2011 revolutions is certainly palpable.
        What first needs to be examined is the role that social media played in these revolutions. It can be best summed up in the visual that "people protesting had a rock in one hand and a cell phone in the other" (Axford 684). In countries where large sections of the youth protesting had grown up in a more westernized culture than preceding generations, thanks in large part to the economic liberalization policies enacted by the sultanistic authoritarian regimes that wished to maintain their power by expanding college access (Goldstone), the power of the cell phone and communication cannot be underestimated. Indeed one of the symbolic starting points of the protests was Mohammed Bouazizi's self-immolation, which would not have gained any attention if it had not been captured on video and posted to facebook (Khandker 677). The increase of social media also served to promote transparency in the governments, and encourage protestors to fight for such transparency (Eisenlohr 127. It also served to help build networks of trust that are key for large numbers of stranger to work together and place their lives in one and other's hands as they strive for a common goal (Eisenlohr 133). In these views, one can plainly see the great import of social media on the recent revolutions.
      Another question that can prove this point is what would've been different without social media. It is hard to definitively prove a negative, or a "what if" question but some speculation can be allowed with a certain reflection upon events. One of the largest activities that aided these revolts was cyberactivism (Khandker 678), without this there would have been no way to "counter the culture of fear" (Eisenlohr 128) that proved such a crucial aspect for the success of the 2011 revolts. Without social media it can be therefore assumed that this culture of fear would have been a lot harder to combat, the protestors would have come out in smaller numbers, the response by the government would have been bloodier, more targeted and thus more effective, and the protests would have been as a result less successful overall. Finally there is the element of reconstruction that can take at least half a decade by some accounts (Goldstone), this five year countdown cannot even being without the protests first being successful so obviously if the protests were delayed or stalled the recovery would've been similarly stalled.
       Finally there is the idea of whether or not social media was a necessary factor for the revolutions. I believe they were key, though some might disagree and argue that regardless of the events that brought us here, it is the military interim governments that will ultimately decide the outcomes (Axford 685). I however tend to think that the power (strengthened by the economic logic, in Egypt and Tunisia at least  of keeping up the heavily invested internet running through the protests (Axford 683) of the new social media can be historically compared as similar to the "print capitalism" (Khundker 678) that was so crucial to the French Revolution.
       In analyzing these three notions it can be definitively said I believe that social media played a considerable role in the 2011 revolts in the MENA region.

Reflection 11-8-12

I know, I know, another cliché election reflection. However, I think that the reelection of President Obama is extremely important not only domestically, but abroad as well. Not only will we continue economic recovery, improved welfare for the less fortunate, and improved job creation, but a continuation of the same foreign policy. While I'm not a fan of drone strikes (you're welcome Libertarians), I am a supporter of the otherwise more peaceful negotiations President Obama has worked to do. Hopefully the next four years will bring peaceful compromises in the Middle East due to the efforts of the United States.

Reflection

I can't help but write about my experience Tuesday night, the night of the election.
It began with the split second decision my friends and I made to go to the White House for the big night. We left at around 10, and after waiting 20+ minutes for the metro, we got off at Metro Center. Cheering and screaming could be heard down all the streets, all the way to the metro stop. We began to run--we didn't want to miss the announcement! My friend kept checking her phone every 5 seconds for update and we all bit our lips in anxiety.
As we sprinted toward the White House, we passed many people all on their way to the same place. They all seemed to be college aged, and were all rushing like we were. Upon reaching the crowd and immediately being sucked in, I was overcome with sense of nationality centered on that one block. People sang the National Anthem, cheered, waved flags, climbed trees--everyone was constantly in motion, and everyone was moving each other. It was suffocating and overwhelming; everyone here was gathered to support a shared cause. Everyone was cheering for the same thing. I have never been in such a powerful situation before, and I know I will never forget it.
My experience Tuesday night made me think about what it must be like to be a college student in Egypt at the time of the revolution. It reminded me of the power that the youth hold and the changing beliefs as we grow and as society evolves. That feeling of power, of the idea that you are changing things that you know in your heart must be changed, must be amazing.

Post-Election Reflection

In keeping with what I'm sure will be a reflection section heavy on the election, I thought I'd break from the group and reflect on something different...the election! Haha how could you write about anything else at this time for such a topic? Anyway, standing outside the White House last night after President Obama was declared the winner was truly a breathtaking experience (for those of you that were there at some point in the mass of people you know i mean breathtaking in more ways than one, the crowds were very tightly packed!). Coming home early this morning and thinking about the festive atmosphere made me think about our studies in the MENA region however. It is easy to read of social movements or the rallies of recent history in the region and just picture people packing the streets, and it may seem they're simply celebrating because they have had such a lack of democracy for so long and its something new. Last night taught me another lesson, democracy never grows old, as long as leaders are regularly replaced in office the love of the system will continue, as long as the American Republic can continue its successful transition of power there will be a reason to celebrate every four years (or two if you wanna get really uppity and get hype for the revolving door of Representatives). This message can give new meaning to efforts in the MENA region. Establishing democracy is not a short-term solution, it is an action that can provide long-term relief, optimism, and dare I say it, hope.

Election Reflection

Yesterday was a big day for American politics, and it was really cool to be in the capital to experience it.  A couple of friends and I ended up going to the White House around 12:30 AM, where we joined a crowd of hundreds of Obama supporters dancing, singing, and chanting in happiness.  The experience was amazing, and it made me think about the revolutions in MENA.  Although the situations were entirely different, I understand how excited protesters in Tahrir Square must have been.  When I was in the crowd, it didn't matter what the color of my skin was, how much money I made, or where I went to school.  I was a part of something bigger than me.  I was part of a community of people who shared my opinions and values,  who voted for Obama, and who celebrated in the streets of our nation's capital when their voices were heard.

Halloween Reflection

             It’s an odd sensation, writing this reflection on what feels like a Monday evening.  As I was thinking about political and natural human rights in the MENA region and their reformation for this week’s brief, I found myself pondering the same rights in what we consider free nations.  An article about an imam being arrested and deported for hate speech in a Paris mosque also brought along this train of thought.  Algeria’s public is mostly interested in the ability to protest, since their government has greatly repressed this right.  Has my lack of political activism been a waste of my natural rights?  I wouldn’t think so, but others may think differently.

Reflection

I recently read an Aljazeera article on Izzeldin Abuelaish, author of I Shall Not Hate and founder of the "Daughters for Life Foundation."
Abuelaish is a well-known doctor in the MENA region, earning many awards and scholarships. The video accompanying the article was an interview with Abuelaish, in which he talked about the pain in living with his three daughters' deaths in an Israeli bombing during the Gaza War three years ago. Abuelaish's message is to fight with strength, and not with hate; his book is meant to target those living in the MENA region and to teach them to be "armed with love," like his three daughters were.
This an inspiring message, as he says that we must be angry with the violence and injustice, but that we must use this to make a difference and use our wisdom, kinds words, and good deeds. A man plagued with such tragedy and anger that even caused him to leave his country and move to Canada, a man haunted by his daughters' faces, is able to see what good can come out of his despair. He says "Our good words are stronger than bullets," encouraging people to speak out to change and fight against "evil in this world"; how refreshing it is to hear. I hope to read the book.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2012/10/20121027103639238794.html

Weekly Reflection 28 October 2012

Recently, I've been doing a lot of research for my World Politics class about al Qaeda, and I've discovered the structure of the organization is nothing like I had thought.  To my best understanding, al Qaeda operates primarily as a funder of suicide bombings.  For the most part, the people who act as suicide bombers share the ideals and sentiment of al Qaeda before they are recruited - that is, al Qaeda does not recruit uneducated people and convert them into radical Islamists who want to destroy the world.  In fact, the major players in the attacks on 9/11 were all Western educated men.  

I think this is important to know in order to avoid Orientalist discourse.  Within terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, followers aren't uneducated Muslims huddling in huts in rural Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.  Often, it's just the opposite - the core hijackers of 9/11 were studying and working in professional jobs in Hamburg before they were involved with al Qaeda.  Terrorist organization members justify suicide bombings as a way to combat an enemy too strong or large for a single person to take on.  While I don't agree whatsoever with this reasoning, I think it's important to take note of in order to analyze and understand terrorism in a politically correct manner.