CULF 3331: "Middle Eastern Revolutions"

This article on Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the UK, talks about how he is now advising Sisi in Egypt on "economic reform". This article critiques Blair's message by saying that his "anti-terrorism" tactics are actually preventing Egypt from moving forward, it just promotes the status quo. This article goes on to talk about how to control state terrorism and non-state terrorism. The argument is that terrorism is a reaction, and when you have nothing to legitimize terrorism as a reaction to non-state issues, what can you do? Basically this article outlines what the UK thinks Egypt should do to regain stabilization after the uprisings.

This is a wonderful article about social justice through the eyes of an American. This article starts of with a quote from a UC Berkley student who is reflecting on the Free Speech movement and Civil Rights movements of the 1960s. The article ties the ideas behind these movements into the Arab Uprisings through means of Human Rights. Through witnessing atrocities overseas, many Americans become compelled to take action to be able to try and provide the freedoms they enjoy everyday, to the people the have witnessed being stripped of any rights.

This article is a dark story about the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution. Social has been an outlet for positive change, but just as positive things travel, sometimes negatives travel even faster. Zainab El Mahdy, a graduate of Cairo's Azhar University, was involved in many protests in the Egyptian Revolution. She has committed suicide because of a depressive streak following the uprising. This article goes on to talk about the backlash of social media and how the youth are starting to move away from it now that they see its downfalls. A statement by the "April 6" Facebook page reads, "Each one of you in Zeinab's place shares her dreams of a modern, free country that respects people's lives and honors their freedom and dignity.. Each one of you who is depressed and is struggling with helplessness and hopelessness like Zeinab did: You must not forget, that .... your life is the most precious thing for us,"  

This article goes into talking about how the speed of news trumps the accuracy of information. In todays fast paced society, social media is a great way to find out whats going on at the drop of a hat. However, the information we are exposed to on a daily basis can be filled with fabrication for many different reasons. This article speaks highly of methods like "crowdsourcing", but goes on to say that a "gatekeeper" for this information is needed, making sure no fabrication occurs. This leads me to think about how in developed countries we even have a hard time spotting false information, and how places like the Middle East must have a even more difficult time finding out whats real, leading to uproar and uncertainty on a large scale.

This article is a great way to look at the negative effects of social media and the false information it can spread. After the Egyptian Revolution, many false reports were being spread through social media to create distrust between groups of people who were unhappy with the result of the uprising. The struggle for power is real in Egypt and other places around the world, and social media can be used as a tool for spreading important information fast, or can be used as a tool for spreading an agenda. This article discusses what the world thinks about social media and the problems of false information spreading and what people plan on doing about it.

This article is a great bridge between the Syrian and Egyptian revolutions. It talks about how Syrians traveled to Cairo to participate in demonstrations. It also talks about how the Egyptians Activists and Syrian National Council worked together to set up tents, launch weekly protests, collect donations, host conferences, and pressure the nearby Arab League. It also talks about how Syrians would travel to Cairo to give the Egyptian media information on the Syrian Revolution to put out for them.

This article provides a great overview of the "Arab Revolutions". This article covers the uprisings in Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Syria and Morocco. This article compares all of this in light, but mainly focuses on the carnage inside Syria. This articles questions whether or not the Middle East will crumble under the Egyptian and Syrian Revolutions.

This article lays out what has happened in Egypt since the 2001 revolution. Starting from when Mubarak stepped down, the article gives a timeline of significant events up until September 12th of 2013. It highlights events such as Morsi being voted into presidency in 2012, The first draft of the constitution on Nov. 29th 2012, when protestors return to Tahrir Square on Jan. 25 2013, to when Sisi warns Mubarak of military intervention, to when Morsi is removed from office, to when Supreme Court Chief Justice Adly Mansour is chosen by Sisi to step in as Egypt's interim president, etc.

This article is a great article to pair alongside my article about the pros and cons of social media. This article talks about the aftermath of the revolution and its ties to social media. Social media is now becoming more destructive for Egypt due to the fact that rumors and false information are being sent out and create distrust and anger between certain groups of people. This article blames the dangerous situations at hand on the lack of legal oversight on social media sites.

This article on ProCon.org will be helpful to be able to describe social media and its effects on the world in a general sense. I know my topic for my digital research project will be more focused on how social media helped kick start the Egyptian Revolution, but I also want to be able to use this information, along with specific historical examples, that will depict some down falls of social media for social change.

This article gives an overview of what is currently going on in Ukraine. It talks about how social media is being used in the area. Russia swears that it isn't getting involved in the conflict, but on one of Russia's government Facebook pages, soldiers have been posting things on social media that are geotagged inside of Ukraine. People are now suspicious that they are fighting alongside local military.

This article is about how blogger Eliot Higgins was involved in the social media revolution in Syria and now in the Ukraine. This article talks about how Higgins posted online from Syria to track weapons and pinpoint a chemical strike in Damascus from a computer in the English Midlands. He is now using the same techniques to investigate missiles in the Ukraine believe to have brought down flight MH17. This article is great for a comparison between the two p[laces and a has a great explanation of his social media techniques for social change.