The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 April edition of Cybernotes, we exam- ined the impact of social media on the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. This month we’ll focus on the ability of these tools to help advance democratic change in the long term. In October 2010, sociologist Mal- colm Gladwell sparked the debate with a piece in The New Yorker titled “Small Change.” According to Glad- well, social media cannot be decisive factors because they fail to promote the strong interpersonal ties that sus- tain high-risk activism. Rather, they create weak ties among large commu- nities that are inadequate for over- coming the fears that revolutionary groups must confront. Gladwell maintains that the decen- tralized networks created online consti- tute inadequate structures for revolu- tionary groups. To support this claim, Gladwell cites Mette Eilstrup-Sangio- vanni and Calvert Jones’s fall 2008 essay in International Security , “Assessing the Dangers of Illicit Networks: Why al- Qaida May Be Less Dangerous Than Many Think.” Sangiovanni and Jones argue that decentralized networks are problematic structures for illicit groups — and can present new organizational dilemmas that threaten both group co- hesion and the ability to act collectively. However, other observers and poli- cymakers foresee great possibilities for social media. The State Department has supported Internet freedom with more than $20 million over the past C Y B E R N O T E S Site of the Month: www.project-syndicate.org Project Syndicate describes itself as a “unique collaboration of distinguished opin- ion makers from every corner of the globe.” It is both a nonprofit newspaper syndi- cate and an association of 459 newspapers from 150 countries, based in Prague. Contributions from the Open Society Institute and the syndicate’s member papers in developed countries support the organization, which provides opinion editorials free of charge to newspapers in less-developed countries, where journalistic resources may be in short supply. The syndicate collects original opinion editorials for these newspapers, on topics ranging from philosophy and science to international economics and foreign affairs — and publishes them online. This makes its Web site a unique resource for fresh perspectives and incisive expert analyses. It has an impressive list of contributors, including Ban Ki-Moon, Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev and Joseph S. Nye. Recent contributors include Council on For- eign Relations President Richard Haass, who wrote a Feb. 13 op-ed titled “Reflections on the Revolution in Egypt,” and Christopher Patten, the current chancellor of Oxford University, who addressed the topic of “Turkey and the Future of NATO” on March 31. Recent op-eds in its Special Series section include a Dec. 16, 2010, piece by for- mer British Prime Minister Tony Blair titled “Faith in a Globalized Age, ” and a March 13 commentary by U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill titled “Obama of Arabia?” Be- cause of its broad scope and membership, Project Syndicate translates most of its ed- itorials into eight languages: English, French, Czech, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, German and Chinese. The site also has Twitter and Facebook accounts, and produces Podcasts with commentary from its contributors and an iPhone application. — Danielle Derbes, Editorial Intern WWW.AFSA.ORG When contacting an advertiser, kindly mention the Foreign Service Journal. AFSA Insurance Plans hirshorn.com/afsa AFSA Legacy afsa.org/scholar AKA Hotel residences stay-aka.com Bryan Schwartz Law www.bryanschwartz.com Clements International clements.com Collington www.collington.com ProMax Management Inc. promaxrealtors.com SDFCU sdfcu.org WJD wjdpm.com Scroll down & click on AFSA Marketplace