Threat or Opportunity: non-violent protest?

[davidbfpo]

From Open Democracy:

An audio interview in which Nabila Ramdani describes the role of the social networks in the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions – to what extent are Morozov's and Gladwell's arguments proved wrong by events?

Closing sentences:

There will be numerous attempts to re-impose autocracies dominated self-styled leaders of the people. However, the biggest historical change highlighted by revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia is that these people are nowadays hugely well informed, questioning and technologically savvy.

This should be our greatest cause for optimism as we consider the future of the Arab world.

Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/tony-cu...-02-19%2005:30

[Bob's World]

Did Rome's roads matter in the rise of the Barbarians?

Did the invention of the printing press matter in the rise of the people of Europe against the Holy Roman Empire?

Did Britain's global telegraph network matter in the rise of her colonial populaces?

Did the internet matter in Tunisia and Egypt.

Answer to all: Yes.

When a state relies upon overt controls of a populace to maintain stability, the speed and availability of information is their greatest threat. As information and transportation technology continue to emerge, control-based systems of governance will continue to become less and less viable.

[Bill Moore]

Bob and David,

One of the points at least two leaders made about the recent uprisings in North Africa was that the people were no longer scared. I don't pretend to know why, but I think it is somewhat accurate that many Iranians and Chinese have access to information technology and are frustrated with their government, but are too scared to act due to the consequences. I think if these movements continue we'll see some rather harsh and bloody crackdowns.

I'm not sure any lessons have been learnt yet, but governments everywhere are probably considering strategies to counter this type of threat to their control. I think there are a lot of options, and again depending on the overall context of each situation those options will vary. In some cases as others have pointed out the government has already failed, it is like a rotten fruit that hasn't fallen from the tree yet and this tactic is the wind that brings it down.