Wanabehuman

Media silence around fate of China's Bo

2012-03-23T07:00:00.000Z

Since a one-line statement was published in state media on 15 March announcing Bo Xilai's dismissal as party chief of one of China’s biggest cities, Chongqing, there has been no official word on his fate.

This silence is ominous compared to attempts over the past few years by the authorities to "guide public opinion" by providing official accounts of any breaking events as soon as possible.

Instead, the absence of any official information a number of rumours and hints propagated by the country's informal media outlets have sketched out vague plans of coups d'etat by China’s number nine, security chief Zhou Yongkang; mysterious black Ferraris crashing and burning in the outskirts of Beijing on 18 March; and gunshots at the heart of the capital.

In particular, the crashed black Ferrari story as reported by the Beijing Evening News on 19 March gathered over 118,000 followers on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese-language micro-blogging website; but was deleted early the same day.

The authorities had moved to contain the story but rumours circulated quickly that the driver was either of political significance or related to someone of that ilk.

Although the Chinese language state media was contained under auspices of maintaining "harmony", the English-language state media reported the story on 19 March, including by China News Service (the country's number-two news agency after Xinhua) and the Beijing Evening News.

An authoritative voice

State-owned news papers such as the People's Daily did not carry any reports of Bo's fate, while its subsidiary the Global Times said in an editorial on 22 March that "the whole of China is waiting for the part to speak...the faster we hear an authoritative voice, the clearer society can be and public can feel more secure."

This uncertainty and the search for an "authoritative voice" reveal the dependence on the authorities for information and certainty by both state media outlets and Chinese society in general. Instead, there is just silence.

However, deleted postings on social media indicate an underlying political friction. One Sina Weibo user, Lu Yong, on 20 March posted (now deleted) a photograph of a rally in Chongqing will banners stating "The people of Chingqing love you, Secretary Bo!".

Another deleted post by prominent Chinese academic Wu Jiaxiang reflected on the significance of the rumours. Wu wrote that while Hegel attributed wisdom with owls, "we have no owls, only bats. Those bats are rumours, and they take flight after midnight from the micro-blogs that are their caves...I worry for them."

While speculations of underlying rifts within the higher echelons of power in China may be "bats" without any substantial evidence to suggest otherwise, the Chinese government has been resorting recently to defunct ideological symbols in an attempt to shore up public support that indicates less a sense of the "authoritative voice" and rather a sense of clambering for legitimacy by the authorities themselves.

Putin and corruption in Russia

2012-03-03T07:00:00.000Z

Russia's Vladimir Putin, currently prime minister, is widely expected to become president in the elections on 4 March, making it his third term in office.

His first two terms were from 2000 to 2008, but the Russian constitution prohibits more than two consecutive terms.

However, the emerging middle classes and other more marginalised segments of Russian society have recently risen up to protest against what they view as Russia’s system of authoritarian kleptocracy.

A few of the drivers of the anti-corruption protests have included a creeping sense of disillusion with a state that has been unable to deliver on promised socio-economic reforms, which claims that its critics are agents of the so-called West, and a narrative landscape that is deeply divided over fundamental questions about what Russian governance and leadership mean in the post-Soviet era.

Questions which Putin, following his legacy, must consider as well.

Russia racketeering

Essentially, corruption describes deviant behaviour that is motivated by private gain at public expense.

Russia has consistently ranked poorly in international comparisons of countries that are corrupt.

For example, Transparency International (TI) placed Russia 143rd place out of 182 countries in its rankings in 2011, with a score of 2.4 on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

In 2000, TI had ranked Russia 82nd out of 99 countries, and scored it 2.4.

These rankings show that that Putin’s presidency in 2000 and then again in 2004, and again as prime minister in 2008, has had little impact on the levels of corruption in Russia, as measured by TI.

However, the scale of corruption, type, and its social acceptability are more difficult to measure given the repression of the media in the country.

According to academics, corruption in Russia has moved from centralized forms (where payment are organized, centralized, and fixed) in the Communist era to a decentralized system (any number of bureaucrats may independently demand payment) in the post-Soviet era.

This form of decentralized corruption can be seen to a lesser degree in post-economic reform China, but more chronically in Sub-Saharan African countries, where instead of maintaining a status quo, corruption can in fact increase poverty.

Repressed media?

The media is often the main vehicle through which a society shows its dissatisfaction.
In Russia, the media has been drawn into the battle between the state and anti-corruption protesters.

Some of the main state-controlled TV channels, such as Rossiya One and Channel One, began showing earlier this year anti-establishment politicians who were previously banned from their studios for several years.

However, other editorially independent media outlets, such as the liberal radio station Ekho Moscovy and opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, have recently come under pressure by state authorities for providing coverage of anti-corruption protests.

Even so, it has been the internet which has been the main medium through which Russian citizens have been able to bypass state rhetoric, expose corruption in Russian society, and propagate that message to both domestic and international audiences.

Despite Putin’s comments in February 2012 downplaying the impact of the internet in Russian society, without the same control mechanisms in place as China, Moscow will find it difficult to control opposition or anti-Putin discourses online.

Although around 80 per cent of Russians still watch the news on state-dominated television channels, Russian independent polling organisation Levada Centre found in December 2011 that fewer people believe the news they see and hear.

Meanwhile, some 44 per cent of Russians use the Internet as one of their main news sources, and this trend is likely to rise, particularly among the disenfranchised, internet-savvy Russian youth.

Beyond Putin

Media narratives show that Russian society, much like any other former superpower, is split largely along strong simultaneous desires to maintain control and influence in the international community (strong leadership), and hopes that the country will successfully modernize both economically and politically (strong governance).

Both corruption and anti-corruption movements in Russia are symptoms of the mainstream society that believes that their former superpower nation can again be super.

Up until recently, Putin has been able to use this belief, along with Russians’ sense of nationalism, to show his strength as a leader both domestically and abroad.

However, aspiration-focused opposition media narratives indicate that the spell that has been binding people’s perceptions of Putin as inextricably linked with Russia’s (past and future) greatness is starting to break.

For example, the rhetoric dominating the anti-corruption protest movements has been largely anti-Putin in nature and began with a demonstration on 4 February following allegations that parliamentary polls had been rigged in favour of Putin’s One Russia Party.

Analysts suggest that Putin can proceed after his election on 4 March either by repressing opposition voices, or by going with the calls for change and reform.

However, the narratives indicate that Putin should also be considering how to revive Russia’s regional and international status and influence, instead of propagating an illusion of his own greatness and associating it with that of Russia’s.

Politics: Yemen’s new president to face challenges over Al-Qaeda

2012-02-24T07:00:00.000Z

Unlike ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen’s new president-elect Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has “no tribal, familial, regional, or partisan base and has no real experience in power,” according to diplomats.

This has been welcomed by some, who have argued that his standing goes beyond such rivalries, giving him greater legitimacy to rule a unified Yemen than his predecessor.

An astute political player, President Salih used his family and tribal links to build relationships between tribal confederations, such as the powerful Bakil and Hashid groups, and through his patronage network, to “buy” the support of tribal leaders’ in his fight against northern Huthi separatists, the Southern Movement, and Al-Qaeda (AQ) in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Power and legitimacy

In Yemen political power and political legitimacy are two different things.

While incoming president Hadi clearly has political legitimacy, it remains to be seen whether he can maintain the delicate balance between the different political and tribal factions to retain an effective government.

Other than the separatist movements in the north and south, one of President Salih’s main problems was with AQAP, which seemed to be gaining support particularly in the rural areas, where Salih’s influence has been traditionally weak.

Through his patronage, Salih had managed to isolate tribal leaders from their rural power bases, leaving power vacuums and dissatisfaction amongst communities that felt that the central government could not provide for them adequately.

The recent elections are a testament to the Yemeni peoples’ dissatisfaction with Salih and the dire economic situation, amongst other things, and come after a year of violent anti-government protests in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

Salih’s government’s narratives as the guarantor of national unity have not resonated well with the largely rural, tribal population after North and South Yemen unified in the 1990s.

In the urban centres, pro-republic educated elites have become increasingly disillusioned with Salih’s centralized authority, suppression of the people, and the promise of a Yemeni republic.

Meanwhile, Zaydi Shi’i Islamists (more popularly known as the Houthis) in the north and disaffected separatist southerners (known collectively as the Southern Movement) have continued to wage war against the central government.

Al-Qaeda rising

In the background, AQAP has been noisily lurking. It has been putting itself forward as an alternative to central government, providing services to disenfranchised tribal communities in the south and east (such as drilling for wells), taking control over territories in these areas, encouraging marriages with tribal women and its members, and generally playing a long-term game, albeit with a steady flow of clashes with Yemeni forces and tribes here and there.

This has led some analysts to argue that perhaps AQAP’s objective in Yemen is not to destabilise country, but rather to build a stable environment for itself, pinning its rhetoric as paragons of Islamic virtues on Yemen’s historical perspective of itself as a religious beacon among “uncivilised people” in the region.

For thousands of years, Yemen has seen itself as hub of culture and piety in the region. Yemenis were some of the first to convert to Islam and the country became a place where both Sunnis and Shi'i shared mosques, indicative of the strength of Islam as an identity in the country and the tolerance of difference amongst its people.

During Salih’s presidency, this discourse was used to build support against the extremist version of Islam propagated by groups such as AQAP, whose rhetoric against Shi’i Islam and calls for suicide bombings clashed with mainstream Yemeni perceptions of Islam.

Challenges ahead

Yet AQAP’s rise amongst Yemen’s tribal areas has not gone unnoticed by the international community and will remain a priority issue for incoming president, Hadi.

Without the so-called familial and tribal links to shore up his influence in these areas and to legitimise the state’s authority, it remains to be seen whether Hadi’s narratives of state-led unity alone can draw young Yemeni men away from joining AQAP’s ranks.

Al-Hadi is from the small town of al Wadi (also: Am Wadî`) in the Dathinah plain, District (Mudiriyah) of Lawdar, Governorate (Muhafazah) of Abyan.

Al-Wadi is inhabited by the Ahl Billayl (or BalLayl) sub-tribe of `Ilah (`Ulah); itself a sub-tribe of Madhhij. The clans of Ahl Billayl include Âl Hâdî Mansûr, and also Âl Lahtal, Âl Majhar, Âl at Tumaysh, Âl Milhim, Âl Mahrûq and Âl Mad.has. The new president has the name of the first of these clans and is thought to be affiliated with it.

One member of an Arabic-language forum referred to Hadi as “Hadi al-Marami”, suggesting that his tribal affiliations (whether the tribe's name is right or wrong), at least through his place of birth, are still important to some.

These links, however loose, may still play a role in the style he chooses to use to convey authority and build political alliances.

Regardless, tribal factions in the south have been reported to have been battling AQAP since August 2011; while some Yemen watchers state that the Salih’s military campaign against AQAP - led by his nephew Brigadier Yahia Salih - has largely been a failure.

Meanwhile, Hadi has said in pre-election speeches that things will change in Yemen, and that he will focus on Yemen’s economic recovery.

His speech was designed to assuage most Yemenis’ primary concerns, that and the fact that he is not a member of the Salih family has added to his popularity.

Conclusions

The recent announcement by the Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabab that it has formally aligned itself with Al-Qa’idah, and subsequent reports that “foreign” fighters from Somalia are entering Yemen, will mean that Hadi will have two main challenges in the weeks ahead: Firstly, to assuage the concerns of Yemenis that led to the ousting of Salih; and secondly, be seen to be engaging with local tribes in AQAP-affected areas in order to calm the regional and international communities.

It is likely that the initial consensus surrounding his presidency will enable him push through economic policies more easily and to address immediate concerns regarding political stability rather than medium to long-term issues such as AQAP, the Huthis, and the Southern Movement.

Media/Technology: Predicting the popularity of news in the Information Age

2012-02-07T17:42:00.000Z

Media/Technology article.

The internet has given birth to digital citizen journalism and user-generated content that propagates information around the world even before any traditional news agency has had the time to verify it's own sources (although, comparatively this remains the traditional media's strength - accuracy and accountability)

Writing in the London-based Observer in February 2011, Aleks Krotoski, quoted Yves Eudes, a reporter with French broadsheet Le Monde, as saying that although the hyper local reporting by citizen journalists has moved forward news reporting, the fundamentals of news-gathering have not been transformed by the web.

Krotoski wrote that "part of that learning process for newshounds, it seems, involves leaving the web and pounding the pavement for stories."

Meanwhile, the propagation of news and information on the internet has been studied extensively. The latest research by Palo Alto-based Hewlett Packard's Social Computing Lab suggests there are only four factors that determine the popularity of a news story.

Technology Review reported that Bernardo Huberman and his colleagues examined the content of news stories during a single week in August 2011, using the news feed aggregator Feedzilla.

They scored each article based on four criteria:

- the news source that generates and posts the article [therefore, does brand matter?];

- the category of news;

- the subjectivity of the language;

- the people and things named in the article.

His team then measured the way these news stories spread across the Twitter network to see which became popular and how quickly.

They used this to work out how an article's score in each criterion is linked to its eventual popularity.

Finally, having worked out what factors make an article successful, they used this to predict how popular other articles would be.

However, Krotoski suggests that machine determined 'influence' (or, 'reputation') is "meaningless".

Writing in the March 2012 British edition of Wired magazine, she concludes that "ultimately, what we trade when we use reputation is trust. And trust is an evasive, enigmatic human attribute. It is the only currency we have in the faceless, tangled web of our online activity, but we are doing it -- and ourselves -- a disservice by creating data-driven shortcuts for veracity."

Sources: As listed.

Related: Power of algorithms, Predicting revolutions, Predicting crime

Comment: Urdu media in the UK - the radical within?

2012-01-26T15:46:00.001Z

Comment by Fayyaz Ahmad.

The murder of prominent Pakistani politician and governor of the Punjab Province Salman Taseer in January 2011 over his support for a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy sent shockwaves across Pakistan. What shocked mainstream opinion even more was the praise and huge admiration his killer, police officer Mumtaz Qadri, received from supporters, including hundreds of lawyers, who showered the murderer with roses on every court appearance.

Taseer’s tragic assassination at the hands of his own security guard and the subsequent developments highlighted the widening gap between Pakistan’s liberals and its radicals. This division of ideologies in Pakistan has not spared the Pakistani diaspora either.

One may try to understand and perhaps, even digest the blatant support for such atrocities in Pakistan, a country plagued by religious extremism since the early 80s, but it is an entirely different experience to see Mumtaz Qadri being praised as a ‘man of faith’ by a British TV channel.

Advocating extremism

On 5 January 2011, the day after Taseer was assassinated, the programme host of Manchester-based DM Digital TV described Qadri in exactly those words and belittled Taseer’s humanitarian stance saying he had ‘caused provocation’. The programme was later uploaded on the anchor’s channel on You Tube.

In her introductory sermon, programme host Um e Adil said that: "A Muslim with even the lowest degree of faith is always prepared to sacrifice his life, wealth and everything else for the honour of the Prophet [Muhammad]. When Mumtaz Qadri took the decision to take revenge, to kill Governor Salam Taseer, he first decided to put his own life on the line - he would sacrifice his own life because the governor had said that this law about the Prophet Muhammad [blasphemy law] is a draconian law!"

Police officer Mumtaz Qadri, who was commissioned to protect Taseer’s life, pumped 27 bullets into him roaring ‘God is Great’ before voluntarily surrendering to his colleagues. Taseer’s only fault was that he had expressed support for the Christian woman Asia Bibi saying that the blasphemy laws were being misused to persecute religious minorities.

Watching the DM Digital TV’s programme disturbed me immensely for I am a witness to Pakistan’s gradual but highly organised radicalisation. In the 80s, military dictator Gen Zia ul Haq forced the ‘Islamification’ of Pakistan, and radical views including sectarian tensions started emerging in mosques and in the media. Even schools weren’t spared and children were forced to learn Arabic and, in many cases, wear the traditional Pakistani ‘shalwar qameez’ instead of trousers and shirts. Some thought of it as just another dictator’s madness. Others viewed it as a transgression. But given that the gentle hand of Pakistani secret services was always around the corner for a tap on the shoulder, most chose silence.

It is that very silence which has led Pakistan to its current predicament.

Glorifying terrorism

DM Digital’s Um e Adil openly justified Taseer’s murder in her programme by calling it ‘the effect’ and ‘the result’ of his ‘provocations’. One of her viewers, a woman called Rani Malik from London, phoned in during the programme in response to Um e Adil’s sermon saying: “Every Muslim’s heart wants to do it, if you are a true Muslim. Even the heart of a woman like me wants to die or kill any person who would say anything against Islam!”

Rani Malik wasn’t alone. Most of the viewers who phoned in agreed with Um e Adil except Wazeer Ahmed from Nottingham who asked ‘how many other Islamic countries apart from Pakistan have this blasphemy law and how many people have been prosecuted and killed under such laws?’

A very angry Um e Adil replied: “Well it’s obvious that we are from Pakistan and have to speak with reference to Pakistan as our concern is with Pakistan. And as far as other countries are concerned, like Saudi Arabia et al, well let anyone dare try something like this [commit blasphemy]. They don’t waste any time. They chop off a common murderer’s head within six months [of the crime being committed] in Riyadh!”

I shall spare you further details and quotes from the programme as I have edited, compiled and subtitled the main bits here for your viewing but do note how the angry host snubs and interrupts studio guest Waseem Chaudhry for his feeble attempts to defend humanity. You can also access the original programme in its entirety on Um e Adil’s You Tube channel here.

Evolution of terror

Mumtaz Qadri’s actions on 4 January 2011 also brought to light another, far more frightening development. The terrorist now no longer needs to carry out suicide attacks to achieve his/her goal. Ever since the Islamist suicide attackers started making headlines around the globe, governments everywhere have spent millions on developing counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation strategies. ‘Moderate’ Muslim clerics have issued fatwas against suicide attacks saying Islam forbids suicide. And to some extent, this approach might have even helped some Muslim youths from being radicalised but then came Mumtaz Qadri.

Qadri’s voluntary surrender following Taseer’s assassination challenged this main argument which moderate Muslim clerics living in the West could use to prevent youths from radicalisation. All you have to do now to protect the honour of Islam by means of terrorism and emerge as a hero is to eliminate your target and surrender willingly to the authorities.

One could only imagine what Um e Adil’s sermons could mean for the safety of the likes of British author Salman Rushdie. Have we forgotten the furore over Rushdie’s Satanic Verses which Islamists see as blasphemous? Rushdie, whose life is still in danger, was recently forced to withdraw from the Jaipur literature festival after a warning from the Islamists in India.

According to DM Digital TV’s website, the channel “is available to over 17.1 million UK households and to over 30 million households in Asia, EMEA and via JadooTV in the US. DM Digital creates and broadcasts programmes in 6 languages via Sky and Asia Sat platforms which is available to viewers as a Free to Air channel in over 180 countries.”

And what really amazes me after seeing Um e Adil’s programme is the website’s claim that DM Digital TV “has effectively brought the Asian and English cultures closer by integrating its people, the cultural diversity, communities and the economy.”

According to the media watchdog Ofcom, DM Digital TV which changed its name from DM Islam Television Limited in June 2006, holds a ‘general entertainment’ licence.

UK’s response to terror and radicalization

The government has organised its counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST using a four-pronged approach:

- Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks
- Prevent: to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism
- Protect: to strengthen our protection against terrorist attack
- Prepare: where an attack cannot be stopped, to mitigate its impact

The Prevent strategy is based on the conclusions of the Prevent Review published June 2011 and aims at challenging extremist ideas that are conducive to terrorism or are shared by terrorist groups.

According to the Home Office, one of the three objectives of the Prevent strategy is to “work with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, the internet and health) where there are risks of radicalisation which we need to address”.

Apart from DM Digital TV, there are more than a dozen Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian religious channels broadcasting from Britain with some fanning sectarian hatred among UK Muslims. I will explain in another piece the role UK-based Islamist TV channels are playing in bringing the Shia-Sunni war to these Islands.

One could only hope that the government would also include TV channels in its Prevent strategy and that British broadcasters such as DM Digital TV will be prevented from transmitting programmes which not only justify terror but also glorify religious extremism.

About the Author

Mr Fayyaz Ahmad has 11 years of experience in monitoring Islamist media and is an expert on Pakistan affairs and a specialist on radical Islam and transnational security. He has in the past worked at BBC Global News as a journalist and South Asia subject matter expert for five years, as well as a foreign affairs analyst within BBC News. The views expressed here are his own.

China political change discourse shows strength of core narratives

2012-01-17T07:00:00.000Z

Discourses on the consequences of China’s social and economic policies are emerging in the Chinese media, as the latest indicators show the country’s economic growth has slowed down in 2012.

However, these have not resonated with long-term national narratives in China’s media and political rhetoric that have underpinned the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“Transition trap”

Professor Sun Liping, a sociologist at the Beijing-based Tsinghua University and former doctoral supervisor to vice-president and heir-apparent Xi Jinping, has been publicly vocal in his criticism of the “marriage between capitalism and political power” and the consolidation of political power by ”interest groups” at least since 2009.

In February 2009, amid a spate of social unrest, Sun dismissed Western preoccupation at the time with regime change in the country and urged China not to be concerned too much with “social turmoil”, but rather address an internal “social decay”.

His latest views were published in a report entitled “Research Report Series on Social Progress” on 9 January 2012, in which he said the “mixed [economic] system” had led to the consolidation of “powerful vested interests” that are “holding reforms hostage” and, as a consequence, China is facing a political “transition trap”.

“Transition” has been a recurring theme in China’s political narratives, including in some statements by the father of the “socialist market economy”, Deng Xiaoping, in the 1990s. Deng suggested that on the road to the transition of China towards a wealthier society “a few people will get rich first” before the rest follow, while Sun’s more recent comments imply that that this transition process has stalled.

Changes in core values?

A summary of Sun’s report was published in the influential, pro-reform China Youth Daily on 9 January, which was quickly repeated in some of China’s main publications’ websites, including the Beijing-based People’s Daily Online, the online version of the daily newspaper of the CPC Central Committee.

In the 2012 report, Sun urged China to “move in the direction of the mainstream world civilization”, which is characterized by values such as “freedom, rationality, individual rights, market economics, democratic politics and rule of law” at its core.

Guo Yuhua, Sun’s colleague and one of the university faculty that worked on the 2012 report, said she was hopeful the report would resonate with the younger generation of CCP members, chosen since the 1990s for their accomplishments rather than the strength of their ideological stance: "The content of the report is quite progressive, but we think the report will have a positive influence on the government."

However, by the end of 9 January, links to the China Youth Daily summary had disappeared from the Chinese web and the URL to the article itself resulted in an error message.

Similarly, messages on the micro-blogging website Sino Weibo stated that the Baidu search engine’s cached version of the report and versions on Chinese web portal NetEase 163.com had disappeared too.

“Century of Humiliation”

Internal discourse regarding the stagnation of China’s reform politics that has characterized the country’s development during the 1980s and in the first half of the 1990s, reflects the intellectual debates that took place between political, military and academic elites in China’s recent history (1839-1949) about the nature of international relations, described as the “Century of Humiliation”.

The “Century of Humiliation” narrative essentially describes “a tale of loss and redemption, in which modern China was forged out of a crucible of suffering and shame at the hands of foreign powers”, according to China analyst Alison Kaufman’s testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in March 2011.

This master narrative reflects the country’s concerns, hopes and aspirations, and affect the way in which China expresses its views through its state-run media outlets and political speeches, to both the domestic and international audience.

Therefore, in the short-term, it is highly likely that academic discourses (such as Sun’s) will continue to be muted and be subject to regulation/censorship, however pragmatic or nationalist.

The period of “suffering and shame” only ended when the CCP won the Chinese civil war and established the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, according to the narrative.

This narrative has become a legitimizing force for the CCP (and the government) because it is portrayed as the only modern Chinese political party able to successfully stand up to “foreign aggression”.

In the medium to long term, alternative intellectual debates are likely to create sub-cultures among the educated youth, some of whom view the CCP as just a useful tool for progressing in their civil service careers.

However, rather than voicing dissent, these debates reflect how embedded the “Culture of Humiliation” narrative is in Chinese society.

One student told the international media in 2009 that the people of China do not want to “go the Western way”, they think China will prosper under the CCP, instead they want to “go into the system and maybe make a little change” and “hope for a powerful government to restore social justice”.

Middle East cyber hacking heats up

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000Z

Middle Eastern internet hacker groups have launched a battle in cyberspace that reflects political tensions between Israel and the Arab countries.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has described this as "a new form of resistance", while Israel has called the chain of hacking "cyber-terrorism" and vowed to treat it like any other form of terrorism.

Background

This series of politically motivated attacks was first reported in early January 2012 when a computer hacker identifying himself as ”0xOmar” posted the private details of 400,000 Israeli credit card holders online, followed by another 11,000 a few days later.

In a statement posted on the internet on 5 January, 0xOmar claimed to be a member of the Saudi Arabia-based Wahhabi hacker group called ”Group-XP”. "We are anonymous Saudi Arabian hackers. We decided to release first part of our data about Israel," the hacker said.

On 15 January, 0xOmar warned in an email to the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post that he had teamed up with a new hacker group called ”Nightmare” (no further details) and "promised" to take down the websites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Israel's national airline El Al by 16 January morning - which they did. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on 7 January that a blogger had traced 0xOmar, identifying him as a 19-year-old United Arab Emirates student studying in Mexico.

The Israeli authorities said it was one of the worst cases of hacking they had faced.

In response to the posting of Israeli credit card details, Israeli hacker ”0xOmer” (with an ”e”) was reported in the Israeli media to have retaliated by posting the private details of Saudi credit card holders on the internet.

Israeli news website YNet reported on 10 January that a group of Israeli hackers had told the website that 0xOmer was in fact Omer Cohen, a soldier in the Israel Defence Force Intelligence Corps, and that he had acted alone.

0xOmer did not provide the three-digit security codes at the back of credit card required to make online purchases, an act which the Israeli hackers said was deliberate because it was meant to be an "alert".

"Resistance" versus "terrorism"

As part of recent reconciliation talks, Palestinian factions belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hamas have been debating the differences between "popular resistance" and an "alternative to armed resistance".

Hamas has approved of 0xOmar's actions and co-opted the online actions as part of its "resistance" rhetoric.

On 15 January, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the international media that "the Arab hackers are resisting Israel in cyberspace and are a sign of the Arab youth's creativity in inventing new forms of Arab and Islamic resistance against the Israeli occupation".

Zuhri added that the Arab youth should "ignore these cowardly Israeli threats and use all means available in the virtual space to confront Israeli crimes".

Meanwhile, the Israeli authorities' statements indicate that they consider attacks against a nation-state by non-state-sponsored actors (such as hackers) to be a new form of warfare.

In a statement issued to the international media on 12 January, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that the hacking by 0xOmar was a "breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation, and must be treated as such".

In his statement, Ayalon said that "cyber-terrorism is the new battleground and just as we defeated our opponents on every other field... we will defeat this as well".

Anonymous threat

In other developments, the assassination in Tehran of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan on 11 January led to calls for international actions against Israel.

The same day as the attack in Tehran, Sabu, the former leader of hacking group ”LulzSec” and member of the umbrella group of internet subculture and digital activism ”Anonymous”, called on hackers to attack Israel in retaliation for the assassination in the Iranian capital.

Another Anonymous group member, ”FuryOfAnon”, posted internet protocol (IP) addresses and log-in information for Israeli SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) industrial control systems on the micro-blogging website Twitter on 11 January.

The rhetoric surrounding the hackings by Arab and Israeli groups is highly likely to continue in the short term.

Also, given that Israel is one of the world's centres for internet expertise, the recent attacks are likely to prompt both state and non-state authorities worldwide to consider further internet security measures, particularly as e-commerce and e-government becomes more prevalent.

Syria-Iran alliance key topic in Mideast narratives

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000Z

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has blamed a foreign conspiracy for trying to destabilize Syria amid renewed calls by the Arab League for the Syrian government to stop its violence against civilian protesters.

Meanwhile, the long-standing alliance between Syria and Iran continues to be of significance to both countries, particularly Syria, and has been a key topic in the region's media narratives since the conflict began in March 2011.

Iran-Syria alliance in the media

Since early December 2011, the Syrian opposition's traditional and social media outlets have featured reports saying that Iran - as well as Russia - has been sending arms, equipment and advisers to assist the authorities in suppressing civilian protests.

Speaking in December 2011, the leader of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), Burhan Ghalyun, said that relations with Iran and the Lebanese Shi’i party Hezbollah - Iran's principal ally in Lebanon - are likely to change for the worse should the SNC come to power.

These political tensions have been reflected in the various factions' media rhetoric, including Lebanon-based Hezbollah. For example, while the Syrian opposition factions are keen to display on user-generated content websites, such as YouTube, footage of violent clashes between protesters and the Syrian authorities, Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV in early January 2012 posted on its YouTube channel footage showing Syrians telling men appearing to be Arab League monitors that they had been victimized by anti-state "armed gangs".

Similarly, at the beginning of the Syrian unrest in March 2011, Iran's state-run media were largely silent and chose later to describe the unrest as "limited protests".

Iranian pro-government Mashregh website said in March 2011 that the West had tried through the popular social networking website, Facebook, to create "a day of rage in Syria", but had failed owing to "the lack of welcome by Syrians [which] turned into another disgrace for the US and its allies in the region".

Officials in Syria have been critical of the coverage of the clashes on the Qatar-based pan-Arab Al-Jazeera TV.

Iran's media have also reacted sharply to the December 2011 kidnapping of seven Iranian engineers by an anti-Shi’ah group calling itself the "Movement Against the Expansion of Shi’ism in Syria", close to the city of Homs in Syria.

Iran's Press TV reported in January 2012 that the Iranian envoy to Damascus, Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani, had described the abduction of the Iranian engineers in Syria as "a scare tactic to bully Iran into changing its stance on Syria".

Topic of interest to Syrian opposition

The nature of the Syrian authorities' control over the country’s domestic media environment has altered subtly since March 2011, in particular, the authorities' influence on the internet.

In July 2011, Syrian activist Rami Nakhlah was quoted in the Western media as saying that Syria was enlisting technical help from its ally Iran in order to conduct cyber activities, such as hacking and pro-Asad comments. However, there has been no direct evidence that Iran is assisting Syria with cyber activities.

The Iran-Syria alliance is likely to continue generating comments at the grass-roots level within Syria, particularly through Arabic-language social media outlets. In the short-term, this issue is likely to become a more significant topic within Syria's opposition narratives.

Politics/Science: The UK's 'networked riots'

2011-08-10T16:23:00.009Z

Politics/Science article by Shuvra Mahmud.

Some four days after the initial riots in London in early August 2011, around 10,000 additional police officers have been deployed across the city, while trouble has been flaring in other cities across the country. UK Prime Minister David Cameron on 10 August 2011 warned that sustained police measures (including water cannons) would be deployed to curb rioters, looters, and arsonists alike.

The August 2011 riots in England can be seen through many lenses and be explained by theories from several disciplines. Some politicians and experts have argued in varying measures that socio-political disenfranchisement from free market, conservative social and economic politics; bereavement at the current state of the domestic economy; anarchism/hooliganism/criminality; and a host of other factors contributed to the spreading riots. However, these sociological, political, and economic factors are not enough to explain the phenomenon that has been dubbed the UK's first 'networked riots'.

Our Information Society is characterised by the normalisation of communications technologies (such as the ones used to propagate messages and 'organise' rioters) like mobile phones, Blackberry Messenger software, micro-blogs (Twitter), social networking wesbites (Facebook), games networks (Sony's PlayStation network), into our daily lives. So it is no surprise that the youth of Britain, weaned on increasingly ubiquitous technology and communications networks, have used what they know best and use the most to communicate with their social networks. This is 'modernisation' and a trend that is unlikely to alter direction as hardware and software converge with social acceptance and our fundamental human desire to keep in touch. The very means by which we are able to keep in touch with our friends, relatives and colleagues, we can deploy to organise protests, riots, and even clean-up operations.

Aside from the underlying social grievances, political disenfranchisement, and economic deprivation and beyond the use of ubiquitous communications technologies, are psychological factors that help individuals to create and identify with new norms to justify their actions. Shared perception of inequality and injustice is a major factor during the preliminary stages of any collective action. The mass media and communications technologies enable mass and targeted propagation of messages that resonate with people's perceptions of equality and justice.

It has been argued by some, including prominent British politicians, that the medium term economic decline and attempts by a largely conservative, free market driven coalition government to tackle this has led to an increase in the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Some thinkers have argued that distinctions between class and social status have been made ever more apparent by the economic crisis of late. On 10 August 2011, the governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King announced that the country's central bank will cut its UK growth forecast for 2011 from 1.8 per cent to about 1.5 per cent, warning that the "headwinds are growing stronger by the day". King warned that we may have to cope with this dire situation for "a number of years", given that "the imbalances in the world economy are still not being properly tackled and the burden of debt is still there".

For the individual's perception of inequality to develop into actual empathetic feelings, these feelings need to be validated by those of other people - enabling a shared sense of social identity. Similarly, there needs to be a degree of confidence amongst the group that collective action will deliver changes (efficacy).

News reports have shown that a vast majority of rioters, particularly in the capital London, were aged between 15-25 years - commonly referred to as 'the youth'. Although economic indicators show that many young people in Britain are set to be in a worse economic position than their parents, it is unlikely that poor socio-economic conditions played a significant role in the social identity formed by initial rioters in London in August.

The rioters did not act as a cohesive collective, but rather as individuals driven by rational choice for personal gain or credibility. In fact, 'Western' 21st-Century society is built largely around consumerism (to drive economies that provide social services) and is characterised largely by individualism and meritocracy, rather than romantic notions of 'Eastern' collectivism and social responsibility.

Instead, anthropological terminology is perhaps more appropriate for explaining the wider rioter behaviour, particularly that of youth groups, or tribes. The use of closed Blackberry Messenger networks and gamer networks indicate that individuals were already a part of non-kin groups with their own shared social identities, collective history, and future expectations. But while traditional tribes, composed largely of kins, compete for limited resources either against or in cooperation with other tribes in a largely limited communication environment, today's youth tribes are embedded within a networked society that enable individuals to maintain their own sense of individuality (and in fact encourage it), while remaining connected to the wider network. Individuals have the freedom of choice over whether to and how to participate in social activities, and for what gain - which, in the case of rioters in England was not for more democratic political representation, such as that called for by participants of recent protests in the Middle East, but for consumer goods.

Assuming that an individual's identity is dynamic and contingent on the wider environmental and social context. It is possible to argue that networked individualism and a shared social identity were the mechanisms behind the unrest in England. It would help explain to some extent the use of closed social networks and the looting (as opposed to calls for social justice). Therefore, it is unlikely that rioters were deliberately targeting 'the Middle Class', as one academic put it, "It's like a kind of class warfare on the streets of Britain" (New Scientist, 10 August 2011). This view is perhaps a reflection of middle class perceptions of the youth in Britain. In November 2008, a survey by UK-based YouGov, commissioned by children's charity Bernardo's, found that half of the 2,021 adults interviewed felt children were increasingly a danger to others and "behave like animals".

In 2007, a year before the YouGov survey, a UNICEF survey of 21 nations found that despite living in the fifth richest country, the youth of UK experience some of the worst levels of poverty, regard themselves as less happy, and drank more alcohol, took more drugs, and had more underage sex than their comparative demographic overseas.

Meanwhile, other observers have argued that the deterioration of relations between communities and the police have played a significant role in the recent unrest, which the police have labelled the worst disorder in living memory. In fact, the riots first flared on 7 August 2011 after a peaceful protest in Tottenham, north London over the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan by police. It may or may not be the case that the relationship between the police and minority communities have deteriorated, but given recent government announcements of job cuts of around 12,000 in the police force, reporting indicates that the relationship between the police and the government are at an all time low. However, although this may be a wider underlying factor, the relationship between the police and the UK's youth have not been reported to be in any crisis.

Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at the University of Kent, Eduardo Vasquez, told New Scientist on 10 August that the alienation the participants feel from their families, from local communities, and from society in general, prevents them from caring about the harm they cause others. Vasquez told the UK-based science magazine that combating this will require us to target negative influencers and to challenge collective perceptions of social injustice. But the problem is in identifying influencers, let alone the so-called negative influencers, and in propagating a message of empowerment and hope in light of an socio-economic crisis that is expected to last a number of years yet. In fact, Vasquez warns that austerity measures, such as budget cuts, will impact negatively on initiatives focused on the youth, and lead to more social issues.

Although the very nature of modern society's interconnectedness will enable it to absorb much of any social discontent. In what form that dissatisfaction is manifest remains to be seen, but one thing is almost certain: the force behind any calls for change will be the British youth.

Review: Sitting In A Tree - a bespoke dating service

2010-03-27T15:46:00.005Z

Sitting in a Tree is a successful, bespoke matchmaking service.

Founder Roya Dabir-Alaϊ realised early in 2007 she had a talent for spotting a good match, after setting up many of her friends. The good news spread through word-of-mouth and singles - looking for something more sincere and personal than your average dating site - formed a queue to catch some of her magic dust.

Working with her friends Nicky and Trisha, Roya’s enthusiasm and sense of purpose is clear: “It’s basically online dating for people who wouldn’t normally online date! Our members are young, educated and fun. They expect more from a dating site.”

While it is fairly widely accepted today that real relationships can be formed online and successfully moved offline, developing these relationships can involve navigating mechanically through hundreds of thousands of profiles - and a minefield of false advertising, distrust and confusion.

Sitting in a Tree has an authenticity and warmth lacking elsewhere, bypassing the paranoia and time-wasting, Roya adds: “Many people use the service, not because they can't find someone themselves, but because they keep finding the wrong sort of person.”

The small team of friends put their hearts and souls into working closely with each member. The Sitting in a Tree selection process is designed to match potential lifetime partners based on their personality, lifestyle, individual quirks, and family values - matching members with others as sincere as they are.

“I can tell you that there is no real pattern as to who this works for, except that many people end up falling in love with someone they didn't imagine they would,” Roya says.

The mission is to encourage members to be open, honest and interesting. Applicants tend to be aged between 25-40, educated, professional, and well-travelled.

John, a new member, thinks that Sitting in a Tree is unique: “There’s a calendar function that makes arranging dates easy. It even suggests great venues handy to both of you. I’ve done a lot of online dating, but this site seems unreal. I was beginning to feel jaded, but this has definitely given me my mojo back.”

To find out more about the service, how to apply to become a member, and to read the team’s amazing blog, visit the Sitting in a Tree website, here.

Politics: Police reportedly kill 10 in Iran protests

2009-12-28T10:59:00.005Z

Robert F. Worth reported from Beirut, and Nazila Fathi from Toronto, for Reuters news agency on 28 December 2009.

Police officers in Iran opened fire into crowds of protesters on Sunday [27 December], killing at least 10 people, witnesses and opposition Web sites said, in a day of chaotic street battles that threatened to deepen the country’s civil unrest.

The protests, during the holiday commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, Shiite Islam’s holiest martyr, were the bloodiest and among the largest since the uprisings that followed the disputed presidential election last June, witnesses said. Hundreds of people were reported wounded in cities across the country, and the Tehran police said they had made 300 arrests.

News agencies, citing an opposition Web site, said that Ibrahim Yazdi, a former foreign minister and pro-democracy leader, and Emad Baghi, a prominent human rights activist, were arrested early Monday. Mr. Yazdi was an adviser to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Iranian revolution in 1979.

Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition leader who was among the losing candidates in the June election, was quoted Monday as saying on a Web site that the government’s actions in suppressing the protests on Sunday were even more brutal than the regime that was overthrown in the revolution, news agencies reported.

One of the dead on Sunday was Ali Moussavi, a 43-year-old nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi.

The decision by the authorities to use deadly force on the Ashura holiday infuriated many Iranians, and some said the violence appeared to galvanize more traditional religious people who have not been part of the protests so far. Historically, Iranian rulers have honored Ashura’s prohibition of violence, even during wartime.

In Tehran, thick crowds marched down a central avenue in midmorning, defying official warnings of a harsh crackdown on protests as they chanted “death to Khamenei,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has expressed growing intolerance for political dissent in the country.

They refused to retreat even as the police fired tear gas, charged them with batons and fired warning shots. The police then opened fire directly into the crowd, opposition Web sites said, citing witnesses. At least five people were killed in Tehran, four in the northwestern city of Tabriz, and one in Shiraz in the south, the Web sites reported. Photographs of several victims were circulated widely.

Unlike the other protesters reported killed on Sunday, Ali Moussavi appears to have been assassinated in a political gesture aimed at his uncle, according to Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an opposition figure based in Paris with close ties to the Moussavi family.

Mr. Moussavi was first run over by a sport utility vehicle outside his home, Mr. Makhmalbaf wrote on his Web site. Five men then emerged from the car, and one of them shot Mr. Moussavi. Government officials took the body late Sunday and warned the family not to hold a funeral, Mr. Makhmalbaf wrote.

In some parts of Tehran, protesters pushed the police back, hurling rocks and capturing several police cars and motorcycles, which they set on fire. Videos posted to the Internet showed scenes of mayhem, with trash bins burning and groups of protesters attacking Basij militia volunteers amid a din of screams.

One video showed a group of protesters setting an entire police station aflame in Tehran. Another showed people carrying off the body of a dead protester, chanting, “I’ll kill, I’ll kill the one who killed my brother.”

By late afternoon, coils of black smoke rose over central Tehran from dozens of street fires, and smaller groups of protesters continued to skirmish with police and Basij militia members. In the evening, loudspeakers in Imam Hussein Square, where most of the clashes took place, announced that gatherings of more than three people were banned, witnesses said.

There were scattered reports of police officers surrendering, or refusing to fight. Several videos posted on the Internet show officers holding up their helmets and walking away from the melee, as protesters pat them on the back in appreciation. In one photograph, a police officer can be seen holding his arms up and wearing a bright green headband, the signature color of the opposition movement.

The Tehran police denied firing on protesters and in an official statement late Sunday said five people had been killed “in suspicious ways.”

Ahmadreza Radan, deputy commander of state security forces in Tehran, said dozens of police officers had been injured and “some were killed,” the semiofficial news agency ISNA reported.

Protests and clashes also broke out in the cities of Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, Arak, Tabriz, Najafabad, Babol, Ardebil and Orumieh, opposition Web sites said.

Foreign journalists have been banned from covering the protests, and the reports could not be independently verified.

If the 10 deaths are confirmed, it would be the highest toll since the summer, when huge crowds took to the streets to protest what they said was rampant fraud in the presidential election won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The White House condemned what it called the “unjust suppression” of civilians by the Iranian government on Sunday.

“Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States,” said Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

The turmoil revealed an opposition movement that is becoming bolder and more direct in its challenge to Iran’s governing authorities. Protesters deliberately blended their political message with the day’s religious one on Sunday, alternating antigovernment slogans with ancient cries of mourning for Imam Hussein.

“This is the month of blood, Yazid will fall,” the protesters shouted, equating Ayatollah Khamenei with Yazid, the ruler who ordered Imam Hussein’s killing.

The protests may have received a boost from the death last week of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a patriarch of Iran’s Islamic Revolution who became a fierce critic of the country’s leaders, especially in recent months. His memorials have brought out not only the young activists and students who have dominated the protests in recent months, but also older and more conservative people, who revered him for reasons of faith as well as politics.

Sunday was the seventh day since his death, an important marker in Shiite mourning rituals. Late Sunday, the authorities declared martial law in the city of Najafabad, Ayatollah Montazeri’s hometown, the Jaras Web site reported.

The government crackdowns on mourning ceremonies in the past week provoked many people in the more traditional neighborhoods of south Tehran as earlier clashes did not, some residents said.

“People in my neighborhood have been going to the Ashura rituals every night with green fabric for the first time,” said Hamid, 33, a laborer who lives in the southern Tehran neighborhood of Shahreh-Ray and declined to give his last name. “They have been politicized recently, because of the suppression this month.”

Yet few protesters expected the scale of the bloodshed that broke out on Sunday. The memory of Imam Hussein is so potent among Shiites that killing for any reason is strictly forbidden on Ashura, and Iranian leaders have always tried to avoid violence or even state executions during a two-month period surrounding the holiday.

“Ashura is a very symbolic day in our culture, and it revives the notion that the innocents were killed by a villain,” said Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a former member of the Iranian Parliament who is a visiting scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. “Killing people on Ashura shows how far Khamenei is willing to go to suppress the protests.”

In another sign of the breadth of the crackdown, security forces on Sunday raided the offices of a clerical association in the holy city of Qum that has supported the opposition since the June election, the Jaras Web site reported. Guards surrounded the house, and members of the association and their families — who had gathered inside the association’s headquarters for an Ashura mourning ceremony — were not allowed to leave, the site reported.

Mr. Radan, the police deputy commander, said that only one of the protesters killed in Tehran had been shot. Two were run over by cars and one was thrown from a bridge, he said.

But a doctor working at Najmieh Hospital in Tehran said Sunday night that the hospital had performed 17 operations on people with gunshot wounds. They were treating 60 people with serious head injuries, including three who were in critical condition, said the doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.

USEFUL WEBSITES
Global Voices Online on citizen photographs of the protests, here.

DISCLAIMER
Here at WbH we do not like to reprint articles from news agencies or newspapers, but the story in Iran has not yet been analysed by open sources. We felt it was a strong story that needed to be reproduced so that as many people as possible could be made aware.

Source: Reuters news agency, Beirut, 28 December 2009.

Full text of Barack Obama's Nobel Lecture December 2009

2009-12-24T02:44:00.004Z

Nobel Lecture "A Just and Lasting Peace" by Barack H. Obama delivered on 10 December 2009 at the Oslo City Hall, Norway. He was introduced by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world:

I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.

And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated. (Laughter.) In part, this is because I am at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage. Compared to some of the giants of history who've received this prize – Schweitzer and King; Marshall and Mandela – my accomplishments are slight. And then there are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice; those who toil in humanitarian organizations to relieve suffering; the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened cynics. I cannot argue with those who find these men and women – some known, some obscure to all but those they help – to be far more deserving of this honor than I.

But perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries – including Norway – in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.

Still, we are at war, and I'm responsible for the deployment of thousands of young Americans to battle in a distant land. Some will kill, and some will be killed. And so I come here with an acute sense of the costs of armed conflict – filled with difficult questions about the relationship between war and peace, and our effort to replace one with the other.

Now these questions are not new. War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man. At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease – the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences.

And over time, as codes of law sought to control violence within groups, so did philosophers and clerics and statesmen seek to regulate the destructive power of war. The concept of a "just war" emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when certain conditions were met: if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the force used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.

Of course, we know that for most of history, this concept of "just war" was rarely observed. The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God. Wars between armies gave way to wars between nations – total wars in which the distinction between combatant and civilian became blurred. In the span of 30 years, such carnage would twice engulf this continent. And while it's hard to conceive of a cause more just than the defeat of the Third Reich and the Axis powers, World War II was a conflict in which the total number of civilians who died exceeded the number of soldiers who perished.

In the wake of such destruction, and with the advent of the nuclear age, it became clear to victor and vanquished alike that the world needed institutions to prevent another world war. And so, a quarter century after the United States Senate rejected the League of Nations – an idea for which Woodrow Wilson received this prize – America led the world in constructing an architecture to keep the peace: a Marshall Plan and a United Nations, mechanisms to govern the waging of war, treaties to protect human rights, prevent genocide, restrict the most dangerous weapons.

In many ways, these efforts succeeded. Yes, terrible wars have been fought, and atrocities committed. But there has been no Third World War. The Cold War ended with jubilant crowds dismantling a wall. Commerce has stitched much of the world together. Billions have been lifted from poverty. The ideals of liberty and self-determination, equality and the rule of law have haltingly advanced. We are the heirs of the fortitude and foresight of generations past, and it is a legacy for which my own country is rightfully proud.

And yet, a decade into a new century, this old architecture is buckling under the weight of new threats. The world may no longer shudder at the prospect of war between two nuclear superpowers, but proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe. Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale.

Moreover, wars between nations have increasingly given way to wars within nations. The resurgence of ethnic or sectarian conflicts; the growth of secessionist movements, insurgencies, and failed states – all these things have increasingly trapped civilians in unending chaos. In today's wars, many more civilians are killed than soldiers; the seeds of future conflict are sown, economies are wrecked, civil societies torn asunder, refugees amassed, children scarred.

I do not bring with me today a definitive solution to the problems of war. What I do know is that meeting these challenges will require the same vision, hard work, and persistence of those men and women who acted so boldly decades ago. And it will require us to think in new ways about the notions of just war and the imperatives of a just peace.

We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there's nothing weak – nothing passive – nothing naïve – in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

I raise this point, I begin with this point because in many countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no matter what the cause. And at times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower.

But the world must remember that it was not simply international institutions – not just treaties and declarations – that brought stability to a post-World War II world. Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest – because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if others' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.

So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace. And yet this truth must coexist with another – that no matter how justified, war promises human tragedy. The soldier's courage and sacrifice is full of glory, expressing devotion to country, to cause, to comrades in arms. But war itself is never glorious, and we must never trumpet it as such.

So part of our challenge is reconciling these two seemingly inreconcilable truths – that war is sometimes necessary, and war at some level is an expression of human folly. Concretely, we must direct our effort to the task that President Kennedy called for long ago. "Let us focus," he said, "on a more practical, more attainable peace, based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions." A gradual evolution of human institutions.

What might this evolution look like? What might these practical steps be?

To begin with, I believe that all nations – strong and weak alike – must adhere to standards that govern the use of force. I – like any head of state – reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend my nation. Nevertheless, I am convinced that adhering to standards, international standards, strengthens those who do, and isolates and weakens those who don't.

The world rallied around America after the 9/11 attacks, and continues to support our efforts in Afghanistan, because of the horror of those senseless attacks and the recognized principle of self-defense. Likewise, the world recognized the need to confront Saddam Hussein when he invaded Kuwait – a consensus that sent a clear message to all about the cost of aggression.

Furthermore, America – in fact, no nation – can insist that others follow the rules of the road if we refuse to follow them ourselves. For when we don't, our actions appear arbitrary and undercut the legitimacy of future interventions, no matter how justified.

And this becomes particularly important when the purpose of military action extends beyond self-defense or the defense of one nation against an aggressor. More and more, we all confront difficult questions about how to prevent the slaughter of civilians by their own government, or to stop a civil war whose violence and suffering can engulf an entire region.

I believe that force can be justified on humanitarian grounds, as it was in the Balkans, or in other places that have been scarred by war. Inaction tears at our conscience and can lead to more costly intervention later. That's why all responsible nations must embrace the role that militaries with a clear mandate can play to keep the peace.

America's commitment to global security will never waver. But in a world in which threats are more diffuse, and missions more complex, America cannot act alone. America alone cannot secure the peace. This is true in Afghanistan. This is true in failed states like Somalia, where terrorism and piracy is joined by famine and human suffering. And sadly, it will continue to be true in unstable regions for years to come.

The leaders and soldiers of NATO countries, and other friends and allies, demonstrate this truth through the capacity and courage they've shown in Afghanistan. But in many countries, there is a disconnect between the efforts of those who serve and the ambivalence of the broader public. I understand why war is not popular, but I also know this: The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it. Peace requires responsibility. Peace entails sacrifice. That's why NATO continues to be indispensable. That's why we must strengthen U.N. and regional peacekeeping, and not leave the task to a few countries. That's why we honor those who return home from peacekeeping and training abroad to Oslo and Rome; to Ottawa and Sydney; to Dhaka and Kigali – we honor them not as makers of war, but of wagers – but as wagers of peace.

Let me make one final point about the use of force. Even as we make difficult decisions about going to war, we must also think clearly about how we fight it. The Nobel Committee recognized this truth in awarding its first prize for peace to Henry Dunant – the founder of the Red Cross, and a driving force behind the Geneva Conventions.

Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. That is why I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed. And that is why I have reaffirmed America's commitment to abide by the Geneva Conventions. We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor – we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it's easy, but when it is hard.

I have spoken at some length to the question that must weigh on our minds and our hearts as we choose to wage war. But let me now turn to our effort to avoid such tragic choices, and speak of three ways that we can build a just and lasting peace.

First, in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to actually change behavior – for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something. Those regimes that break the rules must be held accountable. Sanctions must exact a real price. Intransigence must be met with increased pressure – and such pressure exists only when the world stands together as one.

One urgent example is the effort to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and to seek a world without them. In the middle of the last century, nations agreed to be bound by a treaty whose bargain is clear: All will have access to peaceful nuclear power; those without nuclear weapons will forsake them; and those with nuclear weapons will work towards disarmament. I am committed to upholding this treaty. It is a centerpiece of my foreign policy. And I'm working with President Medvedev to reduce America and Russia's nuclear stockpiles.

But it is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system. Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes when those laws are flouted. Those who care for their own security cannot ignore the danger of an arms race in the Middle East or East Asia. Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war.

The same principle applies to those who violate international laws by brutalizing their own people. When there is genocide in Darfur, systematic rape in Congo, repression in Burma – there must be consequences. Yes, there will be engagement; yes, there will be diplomacy – but there must be consequences when those things fail. And the closer we stand together, the less likely we will be faced with the choice between armed intervention and complicity in oppression.

This brings me to a second point – the nature of the peace that we seek. For peace is not merely the absence of visible conflict. Only a just peace based on the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can truly be lasting.

It was this insight that drove drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after the Second World War. In the wake of devastation, they recognized that if human rights are not protected, peace is a hollow promise.

And yet too often, these words are ignored. For some countries, the failure to uphold human rights is excused by the false suggestion that these are somehow Western principles, foreign to local cultures or stages of a nation's development. And within America, there has long been a tension between those who describe themselves as realists or idealists – a tension that suggests a stark choice between the narrow pursuit of interests or an endless campaign to impose our values around the world.

I reject these choices. I believe that peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent-up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence. We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests – nor the world's – are served by the denial of human aspirations.

So even as we respect the unique culture and traditions of different countries, America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal. We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran. It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear that these movements – these movements of hope and history – they have us on their side.

Let me also say this: The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone. At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy. I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know that sanctions without outreach – condemnation without discussion – can carry forward only a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door.

In light of the Cultural Revolution's horrors, Nixon's meeting with Mao appeared inexcusable – and yet it surely helped set China on a path where millions of its citizens have been lifted from poverty and connected to open societies. Pope John Paul's engagement with Poland created space not just for the Catholic Church, but for labor leaders like Lech Walesa. Ronald Reagan's efforts on arms control and embrace of perestroika not only improved relations with the Soviet Union, but empowered dissidents throughout Eastern Europe. There's no simple formula here. But we must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement, pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time.

Third, a just peace includes not only civil and political rights – it must encompass economic security and opportunity. For true peace is not just freedom from fear, but freedom from want.

It is undoubtedly true that development rarely takes root without security; it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine and shelter they need to survive. It does not exist where children can't aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family. The absence of hope can rot a society from within.

And that's why helping farmers feed their own people – or nations educate their children and care for the sick – is not mere charity. It's also why the world must come together to confront climate change. There is little scientific dispute that if we do nothing, we will face more drought, more famine, more mass displacement – all of which will fuel more conflict for decades. For this reason, it is not merely scientists and environmental activists who call for swift and forceful action – it's military leaders in my own country and others who understand our common security hangs in the balance.

Agreements among nations. Strong institutions. Support for human rights. Investments in development. All these are vital ingredients in bringing about the evolution that President Kennedy spoke about. And yet, I do not believe that we will have the will, the determination, the staying power, to complete this work without something more – and that's the continued expansion of our moral imagination; an insistence that there's something irreducible that we all share.

As the world grows smaller, you might think it would be easier for human beings to recognize how similar we are; to understand that we're all basically seeking the same things; that we all hope for the chance to live out our lives with some measure of happiness and fulfillment for ourselves and our families.

And yet somehow, given the dizzying pace of globalization, the cultural leveling of modernity, it perhaps comes as no surprise that people fear the loss of what they cherish in their particular identities – their race, their tribe, and perhaps most powerfully their religion. In some places, this fear has led to conflict. At times, it even feels like we're moving backwards. We see it in the Middle East, as the conflict between Arabs and Jews seems to harden. We see it in nations that are torn asunder by tribal lines.

And most dangerously, we see it in the way that religion is used to justify the murder of innocents by those who have distorted and defiled the great religion of Islam, and who attacked my country from Afghanistan. These extremists are not the first to kill in the name of God; the cruelties of the Crusades are amply recorded. But they remind us that no Holy War can ever be a just war. For if you truly believe that you are carrying out divine will, then there is no need for restraint – no need to spare the pregnant mother, or the medic, or the Red Cross worker, or even a person of one's own faith. Such a warped view of religion is not just incompatible with the concept of peace, but I believe it's incompatible with the very purpose of faith – for the one rule that lies at the heart of every major religion is that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

Adhering to this law of love has always been the core struggle of human nature. For we are fallible. We make mistakes, and fall victim to the temptations of pride, and power, and sometimes evil. Even those of us with the best of intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us.

But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The non-violence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached – their fundamental faith in human progress – that must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.

For if we lose that faith – if we dismiss it as silly or naïve; if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on issues of war and peace – then we lose what's best about humanity. We lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.

Like generations have before us, we must reject that future. As Dr. King said at this occasion so many years ago, "I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present condition makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him."

Let us reach for the world that ought to be – that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls.

Somewhere today, in the here and now, in the world as it is, a soldier sees he's outgunned, but stands firm to keep the peace. Somewhere today, in this world, a young protestor awaits the brutality of her government, but has the courage to march on. Somewhere today, a mother facing punishing poverty still takes the time to teach her child, scrapes together what few coins she has to send that child to school – because she believes that a cruel world still has a place for that child's dreams.

Let us live by their example. We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for justice. We can admit the intractability of depravation, and still strive for dignity. Clear-eyed, we can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace. We can do that – for that is the story of human progress; that's the hope of all the world; and at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on Earth.

Thank you very much.

(Source: Nobel Prize website, December 2009)

Technology/Politics: ONI study shows censorship rising

2009-12-16T13:18:00.005Z

In December 2009, the Director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, Dr. Ron Deibert, gave to the Googleplex in Mountain View a presentation on the Open Internet Initiative's recent studies on the policies and technologies that repressive governments are using to censor Internet content.

The following is a summary of ONI's findings.

Every country wishes to share in the prospective benefits of the Internet. However, there are no countries that are completely comfortable with the newfound freedoms of expression and access to information the Internet brings. As a result, there are few countries left in the world today that have not debated, planned, or implemented Internet filtering. In the following eight regional overviews, we provide broad summaries that exhibit the ways in which the countries within each region are grappling with the implications of Internet freedom and the challenges of regulating online content.

ONI regional profiles synthesize the findings of background research and, when applicable, technical tests carried out in eight regions: Asia, Australia/New Zealand [NOT UPDATED SINCE 2007], the Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the United States/Canada.

In general, the regional overviews are structured to cover the targets of and approaches to Internet content regulation, though the individual composition of the eight overviews varies in accordance with the quantity, focus, and strategies of regulation and filtering employed by the countries within a given region.

These overviews exhibit considerable variation in filtering practices between and within different regions. This variation is seen not only in the depth, breadth, and foci of filtering, but also in the legal, technical, and administrative tools used to enact filtering. For example, the overview of Asia presents a region with a range of filtering targets and strategies as wide and diverse as its political and cultural landscape. The CIS overview displays a more narrow range of activity, reflecting perhaps the common history of the region. The MENA report evinces a region with extensive social filtering regimes and a growing penchant for targeting political speech.

By contrast, the general picture that emerges from Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is one of more narrowly focused targeting of online content and a more diverse mix of strategies for restricting access to that content. Filtering plays an important part in these regions and countries, though it tends to be voluntary and focused on a much narrower set of issues — primarily child pornography and, in a few cases, hate speech. The primary content regulation strategies in these countries tend to rely more heavily on taking down domestically hosted Web sites and in removing Web sites from search results than on the technical filtering of foreign-hosted Web sites. This is not surprising given the large proportion of total Internet content hosted on local servers in these regions. The targets of content restrictions vary by country. Within this set, Australia is the most aggressive towards combating obscene content, while the United States goes to the greatest effort to remove Web sites that are suspected of breaching copyright law. Germany and France are the most vigorous in addressing online hate speech.

Latin America generally shares the same complement of targets and strategies as documented in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. However, the legal and administrative means for restricting access to content are not as advanced in Latin America as they are in these other countries and, therefore, the policy and practice of Internet blocking and content restrictions have not been applied as widely. As the legal structures and technical tools are further developed in the next several years, we may see a marked change in content regulation in Latin America.

Finally, sub-Saharan Africa has implemented the lowest level of regulatory restrictions on content of any region to date. One country, Ethiopia, has a systematic filtering regime, while Uganda has one reported incidence of filtering. In Africa the obstacles to viewing and posting content online are based on infrastructure and economics — few people have access to the Internet. This region is another in which we expect to see increased content regulation activity in the future, particularly as Internet access expands.

In these regional overviews, ONI presents information on the current ways that regions approach Internet filtering and content restrictions. These summaries in turn provide a context for ONI's specific country profiles.

ASIA

The dynamism and creativity driving the development of networked spheres in Asia showed no signs of abating through the early months of 2009. As more citizens began to utilize Internet tools for disseminating and producing information, online expression, activism, and networking have begun to permeate the national political and cultural fabric across the spectrum of Asian countries.
In 2008-2009, ONI conducted in-country testing in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, South Korea, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. Testing results found filtering practices to be largely consistent with 2006 results.

China, Burma, and Vietnam continued to rely on pervasive filtering practices to shape public knowledge and expression by targeting primarily content specific to politically sensitive topics in their own countries, especially Web sites in local languages. China, Burma, and Vietnam also continued to block with the greatest breadth and depth, spanning human rights issues, reform and opposition activities, independent media and news, and discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Singapore continued to block a nominal amount of adult content and pornographic Web sites.

South Korea increased its filtering across content categories to include a selective number of the Korean-language pornography Web sites, but otherwise remained consistent with its 2006 filtering practices, specifically targeting Web sites containing North Korean propaganda or promoting the reunification of North and South Korea, as well as a handful of gambling Web sites. In contrast to 2006, ONI in 2007-2008 found no evidence of filtering of pornography and religious conversion sites in Pakistan. Otherwise, Pakistan continued to engage in security and conflict filtering as well as social filtering of Web sites containing “blasphemous” content.

ONI found no evidence of national filtering in Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, or the Philippines. During ONI testing periods, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia were not filtering the Internet, but media reported that these countries also began blocking selectively for brief periods in 2007-2008.

COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

As a former superpower—with a tradition of authoritarianism, poorly developed independent media, and lack of private rights—the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) would seem to be an ideal setting for substantive and pervasive Internet controls. The reality, however, is variegated and complex. While the CIS region is home to some of the world’s most repressive measures and advanced techniques for subtly “shaping” Internet access, it also showcases examples of just how profoundly the Internet can affect social and political life.

States within this region have a conflicted relationship with the Internet. Most have adopted national development strategies that emphasize information technology (IT) as a means for economic growth, with some even declaring their intent to become regional “IT powerhouses.” IT development is favored because it is seen to leverage the comparative advantage of the ex-Soviet educational system with its emphasis on mathematics and engineering, and the strong tradition of innovation in the computing and technology sector. Until its demise in 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was one of the few countries with a ”homegrown” capacity in supercomputing, cryptography/ crypto-analysis, and worldwide signals intelligence gathering. Currently many former Soviet citizens are among the leaders of the global IT industry.

At the same time, CIS governments are wary of the civil networking and resistance activities that these technologies make possible. In recent years, Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan have experienced “color revolutions,” where networked opposition movements (albeit movements that are more reliant on cell phones than on the Internet) have effectively challenged and overturned the results of unpopular (or allegedly fraudulent) elections. Neighboring governments fear that these challenges were made possible by opposition groups leveraging IT to organize domestic protest (often with the help of foreign-funded NGOs), and are therefore wary of leaving the sector unregulated and without control. Many now see the Internet and other communications channels in national strategic terms, and these countries have increasingly turned to security-based arguments—such as the need to secure “national informational space”—to justify regulation of the sector.

In 2006 ONI tested for the presence of filtering in eight of the eleven CIS countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Background and baseline testing was also carried out in a further two countries: the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan, although in these two cases limitations on the testing methodology do not allow us to claim comprehensive results.

Of the eight countries in which ONI tested, our results did not yield significant patterns of substantive or pervasive filtering. Only Uzbekistan pursued pervasive filtering of the kind found in China, Iran, or some parts of the Middle East. In almost all countries some degree of filtering was present, but this filtering occurred mostly on corporate networks (such as educational and research networks) where accepted usage policies (AUPs) dictated that inappropriate content was not permitted, or in “edge locations”, such as Internet cafés where the reasons for filtering were more benign (conserving bandwidth) or left to the discretion of the Internet café owners themselves.

At the same time, in all eight countries authorities had taken steps of one kind or another to restrict or regulate their national informational space. These measures include:

expanded use of defamation and slander laws to selectively prosecute and deter bloggers and independent media from posting material critical of the government or specific government officials (however benignly, including, as was the case in Belarus, through the use of humor);
strict criteria pertaining to what is “acceptable” within the national media space, leading to the deregistration of sites that did not comply (Kazakhstan);
moves to compel Internet sites to register as mass media, with noncompliance then being used as grounds for filtering “illegal” content;
national security concerns (Ukraine); and,
in some cases, government officials have “asked” Internet service providers (ISPs)—formally or informally—to temporarily suspend sites detrimental to “public order” (Tajikistan).

The net effect of these sanctions (legal and quasi-legal) is to create overall environments that encourage varying degrees of self-censorship among ISPs, who are fearful of jeopardizing their licenses, and among individuals for whom prosecution or imprisonment is too high a price to pay for voicing criticism, which at times amounts to little more than a form of digital graffiti.

EUROPE

In less than a decade, the Internet in Europe has evolved from a virtually unfettered environment to one in which filtering in most countries, particularly within the European Union (EU), is the norm rather than the exception. Compared with many of the countries in other regions that block Internet content, the rise of filtering in Europe is notable because of its departure from a strong tradition of democratic processes and a commitment to free expression. Filtering takes place in a variety of forms, including the state-ordered takedown of illegal content on domestically hosted Web sites; the blocking of illegal content hosted abroad; and the filtering of results by search engines pertaining to illegal content. As in most countries around the world that engage in filtering, the distinction between voluntary and state-mandated filtering is somewhat blurred in Europe. In many instances filtering by Internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, and content providers in Europe is termed “voluntary,” but is carried out with the implicit understanding that cooperation with state authorities will prevent further legislation on the matter.

The scope of illegal content that is filtered in Europe pertains largely to child pornography, racism, and material that promotes hatred and terrorism, although more recently there have been proposals and revisions of laws in some countries that deal with filtering in other areas such as copyright and gambling. Filtering also takes place on account of defamation laws, and this practice has been criticized, particularly in the UK, for curtailing lawful online behavior and promoting an overly aggressive notice and takedown policy, where ISPs comply by removing content immediately for fear of legal action. ISPs in Europe do not have any general obligation to monitor Internet use and are protected from liability for illegal content by regulations at the European Union (EU) level, but must filter such content once it is brought to their notice. Therefore the degree of filtering in member states depends on the efforts of governments, police, advocacy groups, and the general public in identifying and reporting illegal content.

Efforts over the past decade have been underway to create a set of common policies and practices at the EU-level on Internet regulation. This is viewed as necessary to promote regional competitiveness and commerce, to counter Internet crime and terrorism, and to serve as a platform to share best practices amongst nations. Notable advancements in regulation at the EU level—although not directly in the area of filtering—include the definition of ISP liability toward illegal content and obligations toward data retention.

LATIN AMERICA

With the exception of Cuba, systematic technical filtering of the Internet has yet to take hold in Latin America. The regulation of Internet content addresses largely the same concerns and strategies seen in North America and Europe, focusing on combating the spread of child pornography and restricting child access to age-inappropriate material. As Internet usage in Latin America increases, so have defamation, hate speech, copyright, and privacy issues.

The judiciary in Latin America has played an important role in shaping and tempering filtering activity, a development common to North America and Europe. At the same time, there has been a wide range of legal and practical responses to regulating Internet activity. Latin American countries have relied primarily upon existing law to craft remedies to these challenges, though a growing number of Internet-specific laws have been debated and implemented in recent years. These issues have been addressed primarily through the application of cease and desist orders in conjunction with requests to have materials removed from search engine results.

Though most Latin American countries have ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, a regional treaty that guarantees the freedom of expression, speech continues to be threatened by government authorities, drug cartels, and others. In particular, journalists have long been targets of a range of attempts to obstruct or limit speech, from government threats to withhold publication licenses to outright intimidation and physical violence. In 2006 and 2007 journalists in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela were threatened, physically attacked, or murdered while others disappeared. For journalists working in Latin America, death threats were commonplace. In 2006 Mexico surpassed Colombia as Latin America’s deadliest country for journalists (second only to Iraq), while Cuba has the world’s second-biggest prison for journalists.

The level of openness of the media environment in Latin America is reputed to be subject to considerable self-censorship, particularly in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.4 Because of threats from local drug cartels or other gangs and individuals, many journalists practice self-censorship, including many in Colombia who avoid reporting on corruption, drug trafficking, or violence by armed groups because of such threats. Drug gangs waging a campaign of intimidation in Mexico not only tack notes to corpses and publish newspaper ads, but have also posted a video on YouTube where an alleged Zeta member (a group of cartel operatives) is tortured and decapitated. The few Cubans who gain access are limited by extensive monitoring and excessive penalties for political dissent expressed on the Internet, leading to a climate of self-censorship.

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa continue to invest in IT infrastructure and media projects as part of their strategies to develop the local economies and create employment. Among the major examples are Jordan’s plans to establish a free IT zone in Amman, which will give sales and income tax breaks to the software companies and business development firms based in the zone. The zone is part of a strategy designed to increase the number of Internet users from 26 percent to 50 percent. It aims to increase employment in the sector and to boost the sector’s revenues from $2.2 billion in 2009 to $3 billion by end of 2011.

In addition to existing regional hubs Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City, the United Arab Emirates launched a new content creation zone to support media content creators in the Middle East and North Africa. The new Abu Dhabi-based zone aims to employ Arab media professionals in film, broadcast, digital and publishing. CNN, BBC, the Financial Times, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Thomson Foundation are among the partners of the zone.

At the same time, some countries have initiated efforts to develop Arabic Web content. In this regard, Microsoft is working on translation technology that would make the Arabic language more accessible to Internet users as part of Qatar’s Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology’s initiative to develop more Web sites with Arabic content.

The number of Internet users is likely to continue to rise, especially with the introduction of technologies that overcome poor ICT infrastructure that hinders Internet access in the region. WiMAX, for example, was commercially available by end of March 2009 in Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, while operators in other parts of the region have started testing the service.

Additionally, broadband markets are growing fast in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, and commercial 3G mobile services have been launched in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia.

Demographic factors are also expected to contribute to the growth of Internet population. The Arab Media Outlook 2008–2012 says that, “Digital media will thrive in the Arab market because the market has a large, technologically accomplished demographic group—its youth—who are comfortable with it and will customize it to their own requirements.” The report also revealed that, “over 50% of the population in Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt are estimated to be currently less than 25 years old, while in the rest of the countries the under-25, ‘net generation’ makes up around 35% to 47% of total population.”

Liberalization of telecommunications markets has already taken place in several Arab countries. Most incumbent telecom companies in North Africa are already in private hands, with exception of Algerie Telecom, the privatization of which has been postponed due to the global economic crisis. However, experts say telecom liberalization in the Middle East and North Africa still lags behind the rest of the world in terms cost and efficiency, a matter which does not encourage direct foreign investment.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Many sub-Saharan African governments view the Internet as a key tool for development and are developing ICT policies accordingly, though the region still lags behind the rest of the world in both number and percentage of Internet users. Sub-Saharan Africa has a history of media abuses and restrictions on freedom of the press, and the region would seem a likely setting for equally restrictive Internet policies. However, ONI testing found evidence of a technical filtering regime in only one country, Ethiopia. As the Internet continues to develop in sub-Saharan Africa, so too will laws regulating its use. To what extent these laws will encourage education, commerce and online governance or restrict free expression largely remains to be seen.

USA & CANADA

Though neither the United States nor Canada practices widespread technical Internet filtering at the state level, the Internet is far from “unregulated” in either state. Internet content restrictions take the form of extensive legal regulation, as well as technical regulation of content in specific contexts, such as libraries and schools in the United States. The pressure to regulate specific content online has been expressed in concerns related to four problems: child-protection and morality, national security, intellectual property, and computer security. In the name of “protecting the children,” the United States has moved to step up enforcement of child pornography legislation and to pass new legislation that would restrict children’s access to material deemed “harmful.” Legislators invoke national security in calls to make Internet connections more traceable and easier to tap. Copyright holders have had the most success in this regard by pressing their claims that Internet intermediaries should bear more responsibility—and more liability—than they have in the past. Those concerned about computer security issues, such as badware and spam, have also prompted certain regulations of the flow of Internet content. In addition, in Canada, although not in the United States, publishing of hate speech is restricted.

Debate on each of these restrictions is heated. Public dialogue, legislative debate, and judicial review have resulted in different filtering strategies in the United States and Canada than those described elsewhere in this volume. In the United States, many government-mandated attempts to regulate content have been barred on First Amendment grounds. In the wake of these restrictions, though, fertile ground has been left for private-sector initiatives. The government has been able to exert pressure indirectly where it cannot directly censor. In Canada, the focus has been on government-facilitated industry self-regulation. With the exception of child pornography, Canadian and U.S. content restrictions tend to rely more on the removal of content than blocking; most often these controls rely upon the involvement of private parties, backed by state encouragement or the threat of legal action. In contrast to those regimes where the state mandates Internet service provider (ISP) action through legal or technical control, most content-regulatory urges in both the United States and Canada are directed through private action.

With only 5.1 percent of the world’s population, the United States and Canada are home to 21.1 percent of the world’s Internet users. Together their Internet penetration rate is 69.4 percent. Canada and the United States, however, have not kept pace with many other countries in expanding broadband access, slipping in the global ranking of Internet broadband penetration rates to 11th and 16th, respectively, in 2006. These high rates of Internet usage bring with them the ability of citizens to express dissenting points of view, as well as to engage in a large number of other activities (such as accessing pornography) that test a society’s dedication to free expression and privacy. Like the states that actively filter the Internet through technical means, Canada and the United States are not immune from the ongoing challenges that these tests pose.

Sources: Google Public Policy Blog, 14 Dec 2009; OpenNet Initiative website, 16 Dec 2009.

Economics: Who would pay more to tackle climate change?

2009-12-07T16:47:00.006Z

Around 100 world leaders are set to attend the UN climate-change summit in Copenhagen to discuss a global deal to replace the Kyoto protocol. This will be tough.

Scientists estimate that greenhouse-gas emissions from rich countries need to be cut by 25 per cent -40 per cent to keep global warming to a 2ºC rise above pre-industrial levels.

The offers at Copenhagen add up to around 15 per cent, with America offering only around 4 per cent.

The cost of averting an even bigger rise in temperature is put at a relatively small 1 per cent of global output—a price, it seems, that many people are happy to pay.

In a poll for the World Bank, over 40 per cent of people in 13 countries said they would be willing to pay this extra amount for energy and other goods to help tackle climate change.

China is the keenest on spending more while Russians were most unwilling to fork out any extra.

Source: The Economist, 7 December 2009; here.

Politics/Technology: How authoritarian states survive the internet

2009-12-07T16:35:00.010Z

Politics/Technology article by Shuvra Mahmud.

By adapting established methods of control, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian states have been able to counter the political impact of the internet within their borders, experts say, with serious implications for digital democracy movements around the world.

Despite global enthusiasm for the idea of digital revolutions, some state authorities have manipulated the flexible architecture of internet technology and even guided some of its development in order to promote their own interests and retain the monopoly of power.

A false dawn for digital revolutions

Since the early 21st Century, world leaders have lauded the ubiquitous and liberal nature of the internet, and ambitiously proclaimed that the information revolution would inevitably lead to the rise of liberal democracies.

Although there have been no historically positive cases where the transition from authoritarian rule has been significantly affected by the internet, media reports have hailed several cases where dissidents have adapted new social media and mobile phones to organize protests and circumvent censorship.

Yahoo! fellow at Georgetown University and contributing editor to Foreign Policy magazine Evgeny Morozov, in a presentation at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference in July 2009, said that "much like fax machines in the 1980s, blogs and social networks have radically transformed the economies of protest."

Co-founder of Global Voices Online and Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong Rebecca MacKinnon, at a seminar at the Oxford Internet Institute on 24 November 2009, agreed with Morozov's sentiments.

But, she also highlighted a rise in cyber sleuths and vigilantes, who have used technology to expose corruption and transgressions by state officials, citing China as a prime example.

In Belarus, cyber dissidents organized flash-mob protests in March 2006 against what Condoleezza Rice called the "last outpost of tyranny in Europe" through email, social networks and mobile phones.

Similarly, many other examples have been cited as positive examples where the internet has been able to spread liberal and democratic values, including: The popularity of mobile text messages (SMS) in the Philippines; Egyptian activists' use of tools and services to circumvent state monitoring by intelligence agencies; Cubans' use of online discussion forums; the "Twitter revolution" in Iran; efforts by activists in China to circumvent filtering and censorship of information; and more.

These examples may indicate that a shift in power has taken place from the state monopoly of control over the media towards technologically savvy individuals. But to what extent can we say whether governments have shifted from an authoritarian system to a democratic one?

Morozov and MacKinnon both argue that government policies, not regimes, have shifted towards a middle ground, where the media and other media elements are used to control and set the news agenda, and to ultimately channel public opinion. The ubiquity of the internet has been matched by a growth in different levels of restrictions on free speech.

"Authoritarian deliberation"

Academics have said that on discovering like-minded people and seeing that their protests are not being stifled through violence, people will be more likely to join causes in what Professor Susanne Lohmann of UCLA in 1994 termed "information cascades".

In his speech to the TED, Morozov highlighted that not only do information cascades fail to translate into crowds, but certain authoritarian states themselves have "mastered the internet for propaganda purposes".

Blog postings tend to linger on in the internet and can spread almost immediately, indicating that censorship may not be as effective as some human rights watchdogs think. In fact, some Chinese language blogging platforms apply such a sweeping filtering system that even positive postings that contain the president's name, for example, are censored.

Assistant-Professor at UNC-Charlotte Jiang Min, in a paper published in June 2008, argued that it was possible to apply the principles of "public deliberation" to policy within an authoritarian or semi-authoritarian state, terming is "authoritarian deliberation".

Part of that deliberative process is to engage with the masses in their preferred medium of communication, Jiang said.

Moulding public opinion

In China, the state has employed a top-down policy designed to "channel public opinion". The principles of rapid news agenda setting and information manipulation have emerging as a centralized strategy aimed at tackling domestic and international information challenges in an internet era, and are sustained by strong domestic media controls.

As a part of this strategy, the authorities pay the so-called "50 Cent Party/Army", which comprise of some 28,000 bloggers posting and commenting on topical issues with statements supporting the state and its activities. Chinese officials have also been encouraged to actively engage - even use - "netizens", those who are actively involved in online communities.

In Russia, according to the Moscow Times on 29 October 2009, the Russian Communications and Press Ministry said that it was "looking for a company to provide the technology needed to allow bureaucrats to promote state interests on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook."

Media spin has been seeded out in Russia to private companies such as New Media Stars, owned by one of the Russia's youngest Duma members Konstantin Rykov. New Media Stars has produced zaputina.ru ("For Putin"), russia.ru (a leading Russian internet service) and vz.ru (a popular internet newspaper) - which all relay a pro-Kremlin line to Russian netizens.

The Kremlin has also increased its online-only media budget by 75 per cent in 2009.

The Israeli government and state institutions have been one of the early adopters of social media as a tool to take its message directly to a global audience.

Some 150,000 dollars have been allocated from the Israeli foreign ministry's budget this year towards an "internet warfare team" aimed at "establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel"; according to Jonathan Cook writing in the UAE-based The National newspaper website on 21 July 2009.

Ha'aretz on 29 January 2009 reported that President Shim'on Peres urging a group of students from 60 countries to "fight anti-Semitism using social networks like Facebook".

On 29 December 2008, several news agencies reported that the Israeli Defence Force had become the first national armed force to launch its own channel on YouTube as part of its public relations campaign to draw international support for its military operation in the Gaza Strip.

In Iran, according to Hamid Tehrani, writing in the US-based Berkman Centre for Internet and Society's "Internet and Democracy Blog" in January 2009, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have started Shi'i blogs and plan to recruit some 10,000 Basij bloggers for the same purposes.

Intelligence gathering

As well as "authoritarian deliberation", which attempts to control spin and neutralize online discussion before it translates into a real life civil movement, another reason for the state to maintain control of the internet has been the ability to gather intelligence.

In an article published on the human rights blog, OpenDemocracy.org, Professor of Iranian and Islamic studies at the University of California Babak Rahimi, wrote that during the Iranian presidential elections, and despite the levels of censorship of the media and jailed journalists and bloggers, the Iranian government also encouraged young people to go online.

"By unblocking Facebook and creating a false sense of open and fair elections, the intelligence services are able to monitor the activities of dissidents who may feel more comfortable to express their views on Facebook," he wrote.

In his article, Rahimi added that through such small concessions to liberty "the regime also hopes to gain approval for its 'progressive' nature", and provide for itself a cover of legitimacy and proclaim its liberal values.

Morozov agrees that "authoritarian deliberation" can aid a state to gather information, data, identify weak spots or issues that are contentious, and act to neutralize any threats.

China planned in July 2009 to introduce the controversial Green Dam internet filtering system, which the state said would protect young people and curb access to pornography. But the project came under fire from human rights watchdogs which claimed the software would collect user data and censor content beyond its remit.

Lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan opposed the software at the time. On 2 July, he told journalists: "If [the authorities] really want to protect young people from porn, they should deal with the source – pornographic websites."

Factors beyond technology

New communications mediums can provide a space outside of government propaganda in which more information is available and new technology can provide easier ways of circumventing censorship, and make crackdowns less violent - as the police can be surrounded by mobile phones capturing stills and videos.

However, as well as these possibilities, "rational ignorance" also exists in the form of political apathy, the love for celebrity, gossip and pornography, which can create a form of "cyber-hedonism" in the best case scenarios, and more sinister uses of the internet in the worst, such as: Cyber-terrorism, cyber-espionage, and cyber-warfare.

Indeed, online participation does not always equate to online political participation.

A paper by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published in 2003 said that "the barriers to greater online citizen engagement in policy-making are cultural, organizational and constitutional, not technological."

However, MacKinnon and others have hope in technology. She said that a "transparent internet can lead to greater democracy...The possibility is there."

USEFUL WEBSITES
- Rebecca MacKinnon
- Evgeny Morozov

Economics: The growing political, economic clout of Arctic peoples

2009-07-20T08:59:00.003Z

Last month Greenland celebrated the devolution of more powers from Denmark but translating nominal political power for the mostly Inuit population into real independence will take a long time, and economic clout.

The Inuit of Canada won some powers a decade ago, while the Sami, Komi and Sakha peoples also have some autonomy.

Climate change, oddly, may boost Inuit bargaining power.

Thinner sea ice is making it easier to drill for oil and gas in the region: the United States Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic could hold 90 billion barrels of oil and 47 trillion cubic metres of gas, much of it off Greenland (though other surveys are more modest).

But would-be extractors will also have to take into account the determination of local people to claim a share of the action, as well as heeding the state interests of Canada, the United States and (for the time being) Denmark.

In northern Norway the Sami, having won legal rights to some local resources under a 2005 law, are pushing for more compensation from firms exploiting minerals and oil and gas.

Source: The Economist, July 2009.

Economics/Politics: Countries with most refugees

2009-06-18T10:21:00.002Z

Countries with most refugees, and the burden on their populations.

At the end of 2008 10.5m refugees were in the direct care of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, down slightly from 11.4m a year earlier.

The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq again caused the largest numbers of refugees to flee to, or remain in, neighbouring countries. Some 2.8m of the world's refugees are from Afghanistan, most of whom are in Pakistan and Iran.

Pakistan hosted almost 1.8m people last year, nearly all from Afghanistan, with Syria and Iran each receiving around 1m people.

Germany was the most popular destination among rich countries.

But as a share of its population Jordan has by far the highest concentration of refugees.

Source: The Economist, 17 June 2009.

Politics/Technology: Iranian elections spark "netwar"

2009-06-18T09:51:00.012Z

Politics/Technology article by Shuvra Mahmud.

Online supporters of the defeated presidential Iranian candidate Mir-Hoseyn Musavi have been engaging in a carefully orchestrated "netwar" against pro-government websites as the Tehran authorities tighten their grip on both the mass media and the internet.

Iranians have been actively blogging and posting to Facebook and YouTube images and videos of protests both for and against the re-election of Mahmud Ahmadinezhad for another four-year term.

Activists using Twitter accounts have been urging supporters to use simple hacking tools to flood pro-government websites and stop them from loading.

Note to hackers

Using hacking tools such as BWraep, users can target websites and overload them with requests for images and web pages, which exhausts bandwidth capacity and results in a distributed denial of service (DDoS) error message.

Some government ministry websites, including leader.ir, Ahmadinezhad.ir, and iribnews.ir, were reported to have been brought down using DDoS attacks.

Observations of Twitter streams indicate that these attacks have been encouraged throughout internet social networking communities partly to show frustration of Iranians at the contested re-election of President Ahmadinezhad, which some alleged was fraudulent, from a sense of excitement and "getting caught up in the flow" of things, and partly also in retaliation to the brief closures of some pro-reformist websites on 15 June.

Esko Reinikainen, writing in the UK-based Networked Culture website, has provided activists with a guide on how to "participate constructively in the Iranian election protests through Twitter".

In the guide, Reinikainen recommended setting users' Twitter accounts to the Tehran location and time zone in order to protect the "real bloggers".

"If we all become 'Iranians'", he suggested, it becomes much harder for "security forces that are hunting for bloggers" to find them.

"These bloggers are in real danger," he wrote, "people are dying there... don't blow their cover".

However, some sections of the web community have cautioned against retaliatory attacks.

"I can confirm that we have been tracking numerous calls to launch DDoS attacks... we have been urging people to resist these calls," Editor of the Information Warfare Monitor website and research fellow at Toronto university-based Citizen Lab, Greg Walton, told the BBC.

Open Society Institute fellow Evgeny Morozov, in a posting on the Foreign Policy blog dated 15 June, echoed Walton's message and warned against participating in DDoS attacks, "they are only likely to slow down the internet in Iran for everyone, not just Ahmadinezhad's supporters," he said

"Netwar" and defiance

The OpenNet Initiative (ONI), a joint venture of the universities of Harvard, Toronto, Oxford and Cambridge, which monitors and reports on internet surveillance practices worldwide, and especially government-run filtering programmes, has noted that since 2000 Iran has put in place "one of the most extensive technical filtering systems in the world".

Yet despite the restrictions, Iran has vibrant social media communities that reach far outside of the country.

Using novel ways to get around the obstacles, Iranians are blogging, posting to Facebook and Twittering - despite blocks on specific websites - links to videos of protests, stills and personal accounts that the world's media has used.

Walton said that Citizen Lab, an academic partner of ONI at Toronto university, have been promoting their web-proxy, Psiphon, through Twitter so Iranians affected by the blocks can get access to banned content "without even signing up for an account".

However, some experts believe that rather than a high-intensity information age conflict, or cyberwar, the current phenomenon of coordination of DDoS attacks can be described as a relatively low-intensity campaign.

"I would characterize this phenomenon as a 'netwar' as opposed to 'cyberwar'," Walton told the BBC.

Netwar describes an emergent form of low-intensity conflict, crime and activism waged by social networked actors, he added.

Walton explained that "typical netwar actors might include transnational terrorists, criminal organizations, activist groups, and social movements that employ decentralized, flexible network structures."

UK-based programmer Robert Synott, writing in myblog.rsynott.com, voiced his concern for those encouraging DDoS attacks.

"This sounds like a very nice form of peaceful protest. It is anything but," he said, warning that DDoS attacks may interrupt internet access from Iran to the outside world, and therefore those in charge may simply "pull the plug in order to protect the rest of the network".

In his guide, Reinikainen warned against participating in DDoS attacks, "if you don’t know what you are doing, stay out of this game."

Censored media

Contrasting with the enhanced level of media freedom just prior to the elections, the Iran authorities imposed unprecedented restrictions on the pro-reformist media just after the results were announced.

From 12-15 June, newspapers Aftab-e Yazd, Kalemeh-ye Sabz and E'temad-e Melli published blank sections in pages where articles and speeches of Ahmadinezhad's rivals were censored.

Websites carrying news, Ayandenews, Ghalamnews, Kalemehnews, Aftabnews and Jomhoriyat were also inaccessible, although with the exception of Jomhoriyat, all the websites were accessed on 16 June.

Aftab-e Yazd newspaper also reported on 12 June that the mobile phone text messaging (SMS) network in Iran was briefly shut down. According to ONI, mobile phone services were restored on 14 June, but SMS continues to be blocked.

Meanwhile, international television networks have reported interference with their reports on the election violence in Iran, "with a RTVE Spanish television journalist claiming her team had been ordered expelled," AFP news agency reported on 15 June.

An Iranian journalist writing from Tehran, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, said that people were having difficulty getting information in and out of Iran. Writing in the Index for Censorship website on 16 June he said that "most WiFi and ADSL connections have been barred... I have travelled 40 minutes out of Tehran in order to access the slowest of connections."

Twitter

Professor Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard Law School said that Twitter is strong enough to survive censorship as posts can originate from different outlets. Indeed, despite the restrictions, tweets keep streaming into the aggregators.

As opposition rallies continue, hinting at further clashes, and in the light of restrictions on the mass media, Twitter has emerged as a major source of information on what is happening on the ground.

However, Reinikainen has urged people not to get carried away.

"Please remember that this is about the future of the Iranian people, while it might be exciting to get caught up in the flow of participating... do not lose sight of what this is really about," he pointed out in his guide.

See also:
OpenNet Initiative's 2009 report on Iran, here.
CBC News interview with Greg Walton, here.
Journal Squared on "netwar", here.
Richard Sambrook's link, here.

This article was first published on the BBC on 17 June 2009.

Politics: Obama's speech in Egypt entitled "A New Beginning"

2009-06-04T13:24:00.004Z

Remarks of President Barack Obama: "A New Beginning"

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Cairo, Egypt - June 4, 2009)

I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world – tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. No single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.” That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam – at places like Al-Azhar University – that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.

I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America’s story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have fought in our wars, served in government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at our Universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers – Thomas Jefferson – kept in his personal library.

So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed. That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.

But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire. The United States has been one of the greatest sources of progress that the world has ever known. We were born out of revolution against an empire. We were founded upon the ideal that all are created equal, and we have shed blood and struggled for centuries to give meaning to those words – within our borders, and around the world. We are shaped by every culture, drawn from every end of the Earth, and dedicated to a simple concept: E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one."

Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President. But my personal story is not so unique. The dream of opportunity for all people has not come true for everyone in America, but its promise exists for all who come to our shores – that includes nearly seven million American Muslims in our country today who enjoy incomes and education that are higher than average.

Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That is why the U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it.

So let there be no doubt: Islam is a part of America. And I believe that America holds within her the truth that regardless of race, religion, or station in life, all of us share common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.

Of course, recognizing our common humanity is only the beginning of our task. Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people. These needs will be met only if we act boldly in the years ahead; and if we understand that the challenges we face are shared, and our failure to meet them will hurt us all.

For we have learned from recent experience that when a financial system weakens in one country, prosperity is hurt everywhere. When a new flu infects one human being, all are at risk. When one nation pursues a nuclear weapon, the risk of nuclear attack rises for all nations. When violent extremists operate in one stretch of mountains, people are endangered across an ocean. And when innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience. That is what it means to share this world in the 21st century. That is the responsibility we have to one another as human beings.

This is a difficult responsibility to embrace. For human history has often been a record of nations and tribes subjugating one another to serve their own interests. Yet in this new age, such attitudes are self-defeating. Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.

That does not mean we should ignore sources of tension. Indeed, it suggests the opposite: we must face these tensions squarely. And so in that spirit, let me speak as clearly and plainly as I can about some specific issues that I believe we must finally confront together.

The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.

In Ankara, I made clear that America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is my first duty as President to protect the American people.

The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America’s goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice, we went because of necessity. I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.

Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.

That’s why we’re partnering with a coalition of forty-six countries. And despite the costs involved, America’s commitment will not weaken. Indeed, none of us should tolerate these extremists. They have killed in many countries. They have killed people of different faiths – more than any other, they have killed Muslims. Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam. The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind. The enduring faith of over a billion people is so much bigger than the narrow hatred of a few. Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.

We also know that military power alone is not going to solve the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why we plan to invest $1.5 billion each year over the next five years to partner with Pakistanis to build schools and hospitals, roads and businesses, and hundreds of millions to help those who have been displaced. And that is why we are providing more than $2.8 billion to help Afghans develop their economy and deliver services that people depend upon.

Let me also address the issue of Iraq. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: “I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”

Today, America has a dual responsibility: to help Iraq forge a better future – and to leave Iraq to Iraqis. I have made it clear to the Iraqi people that we pursue no bases, and no claim on their territory or resources. Iraq’s sovereignty is its own. That is why I ordered the removal of our combat brigades by next August. That is why we will honor our agreement with Iraq’s democratically-elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July, and to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012. We will help Iraq train its Security Forces and develop its economy. But we will support a secure and united Iraq as a partner, and never as a patron.

And finally, just as America can never tolerate violence by extremists, we must never alter our principles. 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course. I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States, and I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed by early next year.

So America will defend itself respectful of the sovereignty of nations and the rule of law. And we will do so in partnership with Muslim communities which are also threatened. The sooner the extremists are isolated and unwelcome in Muslim communities, the sooner we will all be safer.

The second major source of tension that we need to discuss is the situation between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world.

America’s strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable. It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied.

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed – more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.

For decades, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive. It is easy to point fingers – for Palestinians to point to the displacement brought by Israel’s founding, and for Israelis to point to the constant hostility and attacks throughout its history from within its borders as well as beyond. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.

That is in Israel’s interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s interest, and the world’s interest. That is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience that the task requires. The obligations that the parties have agreed to under the Road Map are clear. For peace to come, it is time for them – and all of us – to live up to our responsibilities.

Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America’s founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It’s a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered.

Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, and to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel’s right to exist.

At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel’s security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.

Finally, the Arab States must recognize that the Arab Peace Initiative was an important beginning, but not the end of their responsibilities. The Arab-Israeli conflict should no longer be used to distract the people of Arab nations from other problems. Instead, it must be a cause for action to help the Palestinian people develop the institutions that will sustain their state; to recognize Israel’s legitimacy; and to choose progress over a self-defeating focus on the past.

America will align our policies with those who pursue peace, and say in public what we say in private to Israelis and Palestinians and Arabs. We cannot impose peace. But privately, many Muslims recognize that Israel will not go away. Likewise, many Israelis recognize the need for a Palestinian state. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.

Too many tears have flowed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer.

The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons.

This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran. For many years, Iran has defined itself in part by its opposition to my country, and there is indeed a tumultuous history between us. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically-elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I have made it clear to Iran’s leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. The question, now, is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build.

It will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude and resolve. There will be many issues to discuss between our two countries, and we are willing to move forward without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect. But it is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a decisive point. This is not simply about America’s interests. It is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path.

I understand those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America’s commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons. And any nation – including Iran – should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That commitment is at the core of the Treaty, and it must be kept for all who fully abide by it. And I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal.

The fourth issue that I will address is democracy.

I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq. So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.

That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

There is no straight line to realize this promise. But this much is clear: governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments – provided they govern with respect for all their people.

This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.

The fifth issue that we must address together is religious freedom.

Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition. I saw it firsthand as a child in Indonesia, where devout Christians worshiped freely in an overwhelmingly Muslim country. That is the spirit we need today. People in every country should be free to choose and live their faith based upon the persuasion of the mind, heart, and soul. This tolerance is essential for religion to thrive, but it is being challenged in many different ways.

Among some Muslims, there is a disturbing tendency to measure one’s own faith by the rejection of another’s. The richness of religious diversity must be upheld – whether it is for Maronites in Lebanon or the Copts in Egypt. And fault lines must be closed among Muslims as well, as the divisions between Sunni and Shia have led to tragic violence, particularly in Iraq.

Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.

Likewise, it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.

Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews. That is why we welcome efforts like Saudi Arabian King Abdullah’s Interfaith dialogue and Turkey’s leadership in the Alliance of Civilizations. Around the world, we can turn dialogue into Interfaith service, so bridges between peoples lead to action – whether it is combating malaria in Africa, or providing relief after a natural disaster.

The sixth issue that I want to address is women’s rights.

I know there is debate about this issue. I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.

Now let me be clear: issues of women’s equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women’s equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.

Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity – men and women – to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams.

Finally, I want to discuss economic development and opportunity.

I know that for many, the face of globalization is contradictory. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence. Trade can bring new wealth and opportunities, but also huge disruptions and changing communities. In all nations – including my own – this change can bring fear. Fear that because of modernity we will lose of control over our economic choices, our politics, and most importantly our identities – those things we most cherish about our communities, our families, our traditions, and our faith.

But I also know that human progress cannot be denied. There need not be contradiction between development and tradition. Countries like Japan and South Korea grew their economies while maintaining distinct cultures. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.

This is important because no development strategy can be based only upon what comes out of the ground, nor can it be sustained while young people are out of work. Many Gulf States have enjoyed great wealth as a consequence of oil, and some are beginning to focus it on broader development. But all of us must recognize that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century, and in too many Muslim communities there remains underinvestment in these areas. I am emphasizing such investments within my country. And while America in the past has focused on oil and gas in this part of the world, we now seek a broader engagement.

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in on-line learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a teenager in Kansas can communicate instantly with a teenager in Cairo.

On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs. We will open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new Science Envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops. And today I am announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

All these things must be done in partnership. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments; community organizations, religious leaders, and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life.

The issues that I have described will not be easy to address. But we have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek – a world where extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own, and nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes; a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all God’s children are respected. Those are mutual interests. That is the world we seek. But we can only achieve it together.

I know there are many – Muslim and non-Muslim – who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress. Some suggest that it isn’t worth the effort – that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur. There is so much fear, so much mistrust. But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward. And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country – you, more than anyone, have the ability to remake this world.

All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.

It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward; to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There is also one rule that lies at the heart of every religion – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples – a belief that isn’t new; that isn’t black or white or brown; that isn’t Christian, or Muslim or Jew. It’s a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the heart of billions. It’s a faith in other people, and it’s what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us, “O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”

The Talmud tells us: “The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.”

The Holy Bible tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God’s vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God’s peace be upon you.

US President Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural speech

2009-01-21T10:12:00.009Z

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th US president. Here is his inauguration speech in full.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

Serious challenges

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Nation of 'risk-takers'

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

'Remaking America'

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Restoring trust

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

'Ready to lead'

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

'Era of peace'

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

'Duties'

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

'Gift of freedom'

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction at Obama's inauguration

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we’ve shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you’re willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won’t get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.

That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

IN ADDITION:
China censors Obama's speech, here.

The death toll in Gaza

2009-01-15T15:03:00.001Z

AT LEAST 292 children and 75 women have died as a result of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to a paper published in the Lancet, a medical journal, which uses data from Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Economist on 14 January also reports that some 13 Israelis, mostly soldiers, have been killed.

(Source: The Economist, January 2009)

I'm only popular on the internet

2008-12-23T03:46:00.001Z

Artist: klingatron, December 2005.

Politics: Obama wins 2008 US election to become first black president

2008-11-05T07:18:00.004Z

View Obama's victory speech on the BBC website, here.

Americans emphatically elected Democrat Barack Obama as their first black president, in a transformational election which will reshape US politics and the US role on the world stage, AFP news agency reported on 5 November.

Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

Bloggers have also reacted to the news, here.

Canadian bloggers behind "leftcoast.ca" said:
"The most amazing and most statesman-like individual that has graced the world stage in a very long time. Congratulations to the USA for electing an amazing individual as their 44th President. Beautiful."

California resident Jennifer Ayala in her blog "College in Canada, eh" said:
"I was totally praying for a McCain-shaped victory, but I’m not one to dwell on disappointments. Okay so future-President-Obama supports things that I am 100% against, but that just means that in order to win those battles, I (and anyone else who feels the same way I do) need to be more creative."

Sources: Reuters, AFP, BBC, Global Voices Online; November 2008.

Technology: The DNI looks at virtual worlds - summer 2008 (video)

2008-10-13T13:44:00.000Z

The final 7-minute video prepared for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in Summer 2008 describing the 3-dimensional Virtual Reality problem, challenges, and opportunities.

See conference details, here.

Source: Intellink website, October 2008.

Technology: Cyberterrorism - myths and facts (video)

2008-09-30T11:08:00.003Z

Video of a panel discussion at Technology in Wartime at Stanford University Law School, entitled "Cyberterrorism: Myths and Facts" on 26 January 2008.

Herbert Lin, a software specialist at the US National research Council (NRC), is leading a study sponsored by the NRC, Microsoft and the MacArthur Foundation to tackle the issues of cyberwars: defence, retaliation, and whether cyberweapons can/should be used.

See related New Scientist article (February 2008), here.

See recent blog posting (September 2008) on Burma's cyberwar against opposition websites, here.