Egypt: State power, protest, and transnational society

What a timely example.

We discussed in class today that the protests in Tunisia (last week) and Egypt (this week) present a timely example of how states will attempt to suppress dissent, communication, and the spread of information that shows how the state is being used against the citizens of a country.   Here is a discussion of related issues and events:  http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f9zac/i_was_caught_and_brutally_tortured_in_the_recent/

Social media and digital recording mechanisms threaten repressive regimes because they allow people to both coordinate their actions and record evidence of what actually happened.   Earlier this week the Anonymous protest movement expressed support for protesters in Egypt, and this is an apparent reply that seeks to reinforce peoples commitment to support protesters in Egypt. [update:  the Egyptian government is apparently blocking all access to the internet in advance of the protests planned for Friday;  info leaked through phone call, mentioned on reddit thread] [[update to the update:  this CNN official news source seems to suggest that the governement is not actually shutting down the internet in Egypt but that it is simply suffering from crowding and over-demand.  Although this might be possible, this explanation seems pretty unlikely, especially given the strategic advantage for the state to suppress free communication in such events, and the clear prior examples in Burma and elsewhere where local governments strategically blocked access to internet and social media that protesters can use to overcome their organizational disadvantage.]]

you can run just-ping yourself--  but cairo is down according to this tool.

http://www.just-ping.com/index.php?vh=yahoo.com&c=&s=ping!&vtt=1296171901&vhost=_&c=

The crux of the Egyptians' protest seems to center on the issues of rule of law, corruption, and the failure of the state to provide fair development of public goods.   They want the freedoms, liberties, rights and institutions on which our country was founded.   It is a fascinating example of how the ideas inherent in a democratic model can spread and influence behavior and perception of what governmental regimes are fair and just.

"We will not be silenced! Whether you're a Christian, whether you're a Muslim,

 whether you're an atheist, you will demand you're god damned rights! 

And we will have our rights, one way or the other! We will never be silenced!"

This man is upset because he wants what we have in our constitution and bill of rights, and instead Egypt offers corruption, cronyism, and violent repression.  Here is a link to this video that shows his comments and some protest events of the recent days (Jan 25th)   http://vimeo.com/19248086

The ideas behind our political institutions seem to be operating as memes, spreading on virtue of their own merit through international interaction made easier by internet, cell phones, etc.  To the extent that societies are defined by populations united by social interaction, then these recent events suggest that boundaries between nations and cultures are being lessened; and under such conditions demand for democracy is a growing infection.   China was right to guess that the internet was a threat to their authoritarian regime.