Wednesday, April 8, 2009

High tech tools for revolution

The protests in Moldova are exciting, but really changing the government there is a huge task. It's one thing to call up a flash mob. Creating a stable opposition is a completely different task.

In Azerbaijan, young people also effectively used high-tech tools to organize opposition. They sent ext messages on mobile phones to organize flash mobs, for example. Members of the opposition also use Facebook to garner support for their causes. And yet, when the government wanted to change the constitution this spring, these tools were not even a bump in the road.

New tools are great and can make a difference for government opponents. But real political change depends on broader and slower moving changes in society and the economy.

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