Rethinking Afghanistan on facebook
Signing up to facebook groups, internet blogs and magazines, suggested by Mike as part of our Digital History course, has been very helpful to my research for my dissertation. The last section of my paper will cover the legacy of the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis for US – Iranian relations. Although I have been aware of and consulted the websites of the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International in the past, I have now signed up to the newsletters and blogs of a number of journals, magazines and blogs. This means the information comes to me via my email or facebook page rather than I needing to seek it out. I receive updates, reports and snippets of articles from The International Crisis Group, Foreign Policy Magazine, Enduring America, Rethink Afghanistan, National Security Archives, Foreign Affairs and The Atlantic magazine, The Slate and (just lately) Mother Jones.
Enduring America is a blog almost totally devoted to contemporary political events in Iran. As well as providing its own analysis the blog relays posts from within Iran by members of the ‘Green Movement’ which rejects the results of last year’s Iranian presidential elections and has been involved in organising a protest campaign. Just last week I attended a lecture at UCC by Houchang Chehabi, an Iranian professor of International Relations and History at Boston University, where he highlighted the increasing use of the internet (twitter, facebook, etc) by twentysomethings within Iran to organise, protest and disseminate information. Though some commentators on the situation in Iran have sought to downplay the influence of technology, surely the ability to communicate, especially with some anonymity, is vital for organising demonstrations amongst large groups of individuals and for finding others who share your political or cultural views. It is like downplaying the influence of the printing press on the Reformation! (more…)
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