Egypt's Facebook revolution.

Egypt's Facebook revolution. Throughout more than seven thousand years Egyptian history hasmarked key milestones during the development of western civilization Noun 1. Western civilization - the modern culture of western Europe and North America; "when Ghandi was asked what he thought of Western civilization he said he thought it would be a good idea"Western culture .Once more, following long decades of dormancy, Egypt plays a centralrole - this time in the history of the information revolution, bypreparing the cradle of the first successful political revolution basedon the social media. It is important in this context to look back to the greatrevolutions that have marked world history, the first and mostwidespread being the agricultural revolution Agricultural RevolutionGradual transformation of the traditional agricultural system that began in Britain in the 18th century. Aspects of this complex transformation, which was not completed until the 19th century, included the reallocation of land ownership to make farms . Egypt's greatest giftto the ancient world was the transformation of human life from nomadic See nomadic computing. insecurity into settled productivity by creating irrigation irrigation,in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. systems toharness the nurturing potential of the Nile. This was by its nature apopular revolution, with rights and duties clearly delineated: therulers secured the water for the farmers, and the farmers in turnproduced food and dependent products. After several centuries of building on the agriculture revolution,Europe gave birth to the Industrial revolution. This revolution, passingthrough several developments and vari ations, has complicated features.The main difference between the agriculture and industrial revolutionshas been the extent to which the benefits of the former reached greaternumbers than the latter, which is the reason there have beencounter-revolutions to the industrial revolution. This brings us to thecompeting ideologies of Capitalism and Marxism as a proposed solution tobenefit workers in society. This debate has emphasized the role of classas a basic unit of analysis. Ultimately industrial development required the trade revolution toprofitably sell its increasing products. With the great advancement oftransportation, trade became the slogan of economics globalization globalizationProcess by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation (e.g."Trade not Aid" for the develo pment of countries, etc). Thetrade revolution reached its peak by successfully establishing--afterhalf a century of consistent failure--the Geneva-based World TradeOrganization (WTO See World Trade Organization. ) in 1995. However, this revolution, like its predecessor, has no popularsupport. It also emphasized "new" classes, this time composedof mega-businessmen and multinational corporations. Thus, the impact ondifferent groups of unequal distribution of wealth has been exacerbatedheavily. The negative effects of this revolution have given voice tosupporters of workers' rights and environmental protection. The next revolution is the current one of "informationtechnology". Driven by such developments as the invention of theInternet and social media, the information revolution created the"world village" sense of proximity by linking its inhabitantsthrough cyber-space. Thus the "knowledge-based society" hasbecome the world's culture and primary tool of communications.Techno logical progress has continually made the social networks easierto use. Unlike the previous two revolutions ( the industrial and tradeones) this one was again a popular revolution with no distinctionbetween classes. Information technology has become literal "smartpower" in the hands of disadvantaged and deprived persons in allsegments of society (economically, politically, etc.). Therefore thisrevolution has affected all aspects of society's activities. Indiplomacy, for example, it has yielded public diplomacy Those overt international public information activities of the United States Government designed to promote United States foreign policy objectives by seeking to understand, inform, and influence foreign audiences and opinion makers, and by broadening the dialogue between American approaches thattake into account the influence of public attitudes on the formation andexecution of foreign policies. As Marko Papic and Sean Noonan argue in their recent article (seehttp:/ /www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110202-social-media-tool-protest) therole of social media in protests and revolutions has garneredconsiderable media attention in recent years. Current conventionalwisdom has it that social networks have made regime change easier toorganize and execute. An underlying assumption is that social media ismaking it more difficult to sustain an authoritarian regime which couldusher in Verb 1. usher in - be a precursor of; "The fall of the Berlin Wall ushered in the post-Cold War period"inaugurate, introducecommence, lead off, start, begin - set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. a new wave of democratization de¡¤moc¡¤ra¡¤tize?tr.v. de¡¤moc¡¤ra¡¤tized, de¡¤moc¡¤ra¡¤tiz¡¤ing, de¡¤moc¡¤ra¡¤tiz¡¤esTo make democratic.de¡¤moc around the globe. In a Jan. 27YouTube interview, U.S. President Barack Obama went as far as to comparesocial networking See social networking site. social networking - social network to universal liberties such as freedom of speech. So cial networks have achieved what years of western aid and supportto democracy have failed to do; and they have done it in no more thanseventeen days! These days have witnessed many trial and error models,but in the final analysis the Egyptian revolution has validated thepowerful role of social media in the political arena. Indeed, Egypt isnow pregnant with the first successful Facebook revolution. Theeffective organization and perseverance of the young Egyptians who leadthis revolution have made it necessary for President Mubarak to leavethe presidency and for the army to step into authority and remove thewhole old system. It has been said that this revolution has no"legal" father, but it is now clear that it has; and it isfrom the legal marriage between the people and the army of Egypt. Egypt now needs all our prayers and support (especiallyeconomically, given the destruction and two weeks of the cliff-hangingsituation) to bring this pregnancy safely to term. Of course the re isstill a great deal Egypt must do to deliver a healthy child, but this isnormal in any "difficult" pregnancy like this one. For now,Egypt has made it through this crisis without violence and it is alreadyclear that with these powerful new tools of free speech, there will beno holding democracy back. This article represents the academic view of the author and doesnot necessarily reflect the opinion of the Egyptian Ministry of ForeignAffairs or the Government of Egypt. About the Author: Abeer Bassiouny Arafa Ali Radwan is a diplomat,working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Cairo, Egypt. She holdsa bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from theCairo University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focuson Information Technology and Management from the Maastricht School ofManagement Founded as the "Researchinstituut voor bedrijfswetenschappen" (Research institute for management studies) at the TU Delft, it moved to Maastricht in 1989 and c hanged its name accordingly. , Netherlands, a second Master's Degree in PoliticalScience with a focus on International Relations and HumanitarianIntervention from Cairo University, and a doctorate from CairoUniversity in International Relations with a focus on InternationalOrganizations. Editor's Note: In this opinion piece, an Egyptian diplomatlooks at the recent events in her country in the context of the sweep ofher nation's history and its contributions to civilization. In herview the Facebook Revolution is but the latest in a continuum ofrevolutionary changes throughout history.-Ed.