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New translation, the Magna Carta
 
You are here: politics news for 23.05.2004 < News < Home

the steadily growing power of the blogs
and the continual weakening of the left-wing press and censorship.
A long and rather clumsily written article.

The same process is seeing a considerable increase in book publishing for an audience dissatisfied with the leftist common ‘academic’ pap.

“The Iranian example illustrates another potential of the Internet--the extension of disintermediation to diplomacy. Internet-based businesses have already cut out the middlemen in commerce, and Internet bloggers are cutting out the middlemen in journalism. But the growth of Iranian and Iraqi blogs, and the close interaction between many of these bloggers and their counterparts in America and elsewhere, suggests that the Internet may, in time, come to displace some of the work of diplomats. While government-to-government negotiations are likely to remain the province of professionals, the role of diplomats as a public face for their home country may be reduced as communication between individuals and small groups becomes widespread. Though the potential for misunderstanding is significant, it is probably smaller--and less likely to be significant in any individual instance--where this sort of communication goes on.

“The definitive story of the Internet and the War on Terror has not yet been written, and such a story would undoubtedly include events not mentioned above--such as, to name just one, the role of "white hat" hackers in pursuing and sometimes even seizing control of Al-Qaeda affiliated websites. But it seems safe to say that prewar predictions that the Internet would be a force against war, and in favor of lefty, EU-style moral equivalency human rights advocates, turn out to have been partly right, but not in the way advocates seem to have thought. The Internet turned out to be a stronger force for human rights properly understood than for peace at any price, and the ability of people to use the Internet to bypass traditional organizations with different priorities has made a significant difference. This effect will probably grow larger over time. With the growing ubiquity of digital cameras (including digital video cameras) and broadband Internet access, the gatekeeper role of traditional news media, and other international organizations, is likely to disappear.

“Such a change is unlikely to be "pro-war" or "anti-war" in the abstract. Rather, it is likely to change the kinds of wars that get good coverage. Wars that liberate oppressed populations, and especially wars that do so with minimal civilian casualties, are likely to fare the best. It is the good fortune of the United States that those are the sorts of wars it is likely to be fighting in the foreseeable future.”


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