Middle East and N. Africa Media and Politics: Has the Middle East Gotten It Right All Along?: "Have we (The US) been wrong in intervening into Middle Countries? Are these protests going to eventually solve the problems in the Middle Ea..."
What makes you doubt the movements that are protesting in most of the MENA countries? The protests are popular and secular, moreover they are demanding for real reforms to solve real problems. I think that there is nothing more genuine and authentic than that.
I understand the fear about democratization processes, they are not occurring automatically. The first and necessary step for a real and settled change is the self-awareness and self-determination of the people, then the process could be really hard and take so long.
I think that this is a great chance for the MENA area to develop and the Western countries HAVE to facilitate this process.
Democracy is not a good you can export. Just think about what happened first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq after the foreign military occupation, CHAOS. Hard power doesn't look to the future, it is just focused on solving very current problems. Authentic change needs to come from the inside, and now it seems to be the right time. Western countries have the resources to facilitate the change and assist the MENA countries during the process. How?
1st. Facilitation. Smart Power. Western huge Soft Power has a great influence on unwilling-to-change actors and it has to be mixed with some forms of Hard Power, if necessary (ex.No fly zones).
2nd. Assistance. Once the protests have succeeded, there would be a real need for international cooperation for the development, assistance for educational resources and knowledge exchanges.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
140 characters / enough or not enough?
Twitter is simply ingenious. It's a brilliant challenge. Art of synthesis and efficacy in 140 characters. Who's gonna be retweeted? (132 characters used and 8 left).
If there's one thing that really impresses me about Twitter, It is the micro-blogging feature.
I think that Twitter's main strength is that being concise has never been so hip.
I am personally a big fan of effective sentences and the smart use of words. Brevity is a real gift and, even if we are not really used to it, it has a really important impact on people's minds.
Short sentences and tinyurl links make you think ahead. In some ways, reading tweets makes you way more curious and interactive than reading specialist's essays and editorials. This probably happens because tweets make you need to create your OWN ideas by using all the linked facilities provided by Twitter and in general by the social media environment.
Tweets consumption implies production. That doesn't automatically happen with other ideas sources.
140 characters are the need that energizes and stimulates the production of ideas.
If there's one thing that really impresses me about Twitter, It is the micro-blogging feature.
I think that Twitter's main strength is that being concise has never been so hip.
I am personally a big fan of effective sentences and the smart use of words. Brevity is a real gift and, even if we are not really used to it, it has a really important impact on people's minds.
Short sentences and tinyurl links make you think ahead. In some ways, reading tweets makes you way more curious and interactive than reading specialist's essays and editorials. This probably happens because tweets make you need to create your OWN ideas by using all the linked facilities provided by Twitter and in general by the social media environment.
Tweets consumption implies production. That doesn't automatically happen with other ideas sources.
140 characters are the need that energizes and stimulates the production of ideas.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Nuclear Energy
The world is definitely shocked by the tragedy occurred in Japan and is carefully monitoring how the situation in the area is evolving. The Nuclear Energy is just one of the many issues that emerged in the current public debate. I am personally trying to understand more about the topic because I am not well informed about it. I have realized that, as for all the complex issues, the public sphere is strongly divided. Check out these two articles: same topic, totally different points of view.
The first one has been posted on the Harvard Political Review by Alastair Su, a staff writer from Singapore, the second one was originally posted on a web site called Project - Syndicate and then reposted on Al Jazeera English. The latter's author is B. K. Sovacool, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (Both authors are linked to Singapore, is it a coincidence or is there a specific reason?).
Have a look and create/share your own ideas.
The first one has been posted on the Harvard Political Review by Alastair Su, a staff writer from Singapore, the second one was originally posted on a web site called Project - Syndicate and then reposted on Al Jazeera English. The latter's author is B. K. Sovacool, a professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (Both authors are linked to Singapore, is it a coincidence or is there a specific reason?).
Have a look and create/share your own ideas.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Libya / UN + NATO / is a military intervention likely?
In Libya, there is a real civil war going on. The question now is: what should the international community do?
These days the media is reporting the confusion that characterizes this issue. The United Nations is, as usual, stuck in its own structural flaws, based on member's veto powers and the body's regulations about military intervention.
As on many past occasions, the UN is demonstrating its inefficiency in urgent situations like the present North African one. This void has to be filled and corrected, otherwise the international community would never develop into a fair and democratically structured order. As in the Balkans events in the late 90's, NATO is likely to take the UN's place and correct the latter's lack of power (or even political will).
In this specific situation the UN Security Council is probably going to stand still because Russia will want to let the Libyans solve their own problems. American pressure for some kinds of intervention is not going to succeed quickly, if at all. In addition the current Secretary General of NATO, Rasmussen, is expressing an ambiguous point of view about a likely military intervention operated by NATO forces, hoping to make some efficient political pressure. The international community is really divided about the Libyan issue because it is a crucial decision which could potentially have important consequences for the MENA area.
The UN's lack of power could be substituted by NATO, but NATO is not willing to act without an official UN resolution. Moreover there are two other important actors capable to deal with this international scenario: the Arab League and the African Union.
Every international actor is waiting for someome else to make the first move, and the result is really weak pressure that can neither stop Gaddafi and nor the civil war that is occurring in Libya. I think that in the next few hours a significant shift could happen. If the North African dictator is not going to compromise with the rebelling population, the international community is more likely to agree on a common form of intervention. Right now, it seems this is most likely going to be a no fly zone.
The ultimate point is that violence is still going on and international community remains trapped by its own nature. This structural inefficiency should be a starting point for the UN's viscous model renovation, which in my opinion is a necessary step for creating a truly integrated international community; one based on cooperation and capable of overcoming the bilateralism disease.
What should the international community do? Wait for someone else to act? Is Russia right? Should Libya be left to solve its own problems without any international support?
Check out what do some libyans think about international intervention:
These days the media is reporting the confusion that characterizes this issue. The United Nations is, as usual, stuck in its own structural flaws, based on member's veto powers and the body's regulations about military intervention.
As on many past occasions, the UN is demonstrating its inefficiency in urgent situations like the present North African one. This void has to be filled and corrected, otherwise the international community would never develop into a fair and democratically structured order. As in the Balkans events in the late 90's, NATO is likely to take the UN's place and correct the latter's lack of power (or even political will).
In this specific situation the UN Security Council is probably going to stand still because Russia will want to let the Libyans solve their own problems. American pressure for some kinds of intervention is not going to succeed quickly, if at all. In addition the current Secretary General of NATO, Rasmussen, is expressing an ambiguous point of view about a likely military intervention operated by NATO forces, hoping to make some efficient political pressure. The international community is really divided about the Libyan issue because it is a crucial decision which could potentially have important consequences for the MENA area.
The UN's lack of power could be substituted by NATO, but NATO is not willing to act without an official UN resolution. Moreover there are two other important actors capable to deal with this international scenario: the Arab League and the African Union.
Every international actor is waiting for someome else to make the first move, and the result is really weak pressure that can neither stop Gaddafi and nor the civil war that is occurring in Libya. I think that in the next few hours a significant shift could happen. If the North African dictator is not going to compromise with the rebelling population, the international community is more likely to agree on a common form of intervention. Right now, it seems this is most likely going to be a no fly zone.
The ultimate point is that violence is still going on and international community remains trapped by its own nature. This structural inefficiency should be a starting point for the UN's viscous model renovation, which in my opinion is a necessary step for creating a truly integrated international community; one based on cooperation and capable of overcoming the bilateralism disease.
What should the international community do? Wait for someone else to act? Is Russia right? Should Libya be left to solve its own problems without any international support?
Check out what do some libyans think about international intervention:
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Intresting post about US healthcare
Check Afghan Lord out! A really interesting and useful debate about US healthcare is going on and creating knowledge. Let's interact and create culture!
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