It's fascinating to watch the varied reactions regarding the revolutions sweeping through the middle east. The people are excited. The real-politik folks are worried. The doomers are eschatological -- But then they always are.
A lot of people have been commenting on the role social media have played on the revolutions. Bin Laden began Al Queda with the goal of toppling the dictatorships that had been supported by the West and his goal is now realized -- but for the perfectly opposite reason. Part of it is purely economic, but a big part has been that the new media have enabled the people to see what liberal democracy looks like and they want it. They won't want a fully Western society, but I think they do want the trappings of a modern civilization: political and social freedom, an open media, and the ability to be part of the modern world. But what they want and what they'll get may be something different.
Nevertheless, I'm hopeful. The real-world potential for technology to let people communicate and organize may yet carry the day. And we might have new allies to help America throw off the yoke of neoliberal imperialism...
- Steven D. Brewer's blog
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