Social Media

As discussed on our show, social media has pervaded the political apparatus around the world. President Obama galvanized an effective campaign employing the use of twitter, facebook, and text messaging to mobilize supporters. Now we see it as an everyday part of foreign policy and political strategy.  Civilians in Egypt organized with the help of twitter and facebook to revolt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime. The US government has been urging protesters via tweets to demonstrate peacefully. The use of social media to spread peace and democracy around the world is a positive effect of America's technological innovations.  Unfortunately there is always a flip side when it's used to disseminate hate and promote violence, which leads us to the conflict in Egypt. Which is worse:  Mubarak or the Islamist opposition group? Many fear that if the Islamist opposition group took over rule in Egypt, our only ally near Israel, our counter-terrorism efforts in that region would be threatened.