It has been 15 years since the last wave of democratization. But as a region, North Africa and the Middle East were noticeably devoid of popular democracy movements—until the early months of 2011. Democratization movements had existed long before technologies like mobile phones and the Internet came to these countries. But [...]
Now in print! (And byte). Did digital media really “cause” the Arab Spring, or is it an important factor of the story behind what might become democracy’s fourth wave? An unlikely network of citizens used digital media to start a cascade of social protest that ultimately toppled four of the [...]
This Policy Paper appears on the website of the Project on Information Technology and Political Islam. After analyzing over 3 million tweets, gigabytes of YouTube content and thousands of blog posts, a new study finds that social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring. [...]
Howard, Philip N. and Muzammil Hussain. “Digital Media and the Arab Spring.” Journal of Democracy 22, no. 3 (2011): 35-48. During the “Arab Spring,” young tech savvy activists led uprisings in a dozen countries across North Africa and the Middle East. At first, digital media allowed democratization movements to develop [...]
(This originally appeared as “Why Democracy Will Win” on the Reuters Commentary Wire.) The Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia was a tepid affair, and Libyan rebels have suffered strategic losses. Only two months ago, popular uprisings in Tunisia inspired Egyptians and others to take to the streets to demand political [...]
Contact and Content