Conflict in a Socially Networked World

How important is social networking in affecting international warfare? According to author and analyst James Jay Carafano, it is vital. Never before has the world been as easily interconnected as it is now; with facebook, twitter, email, online newspapers and blogs, and mass internet search engines such as google and bing, information can travel faster and easier than it ever has done before. While there are many plus sides to instant communication, there are also other issues that have raised concern—such as an individual’s privacy or a nation’s security and safety.

In 2011, the Egyptian government sought in vain to shut down the Internet-based social networks of its people, when it started being used as part of the uprising against their president Hosni Mubarak. WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange has been branded “public enemy number one” by some in the United States for posting material on the World Wide Web that concerns airstrikes in Iraq, US diplomatic communications, and other sensitive matters.

Carafano, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation’s international studies institute and director of its Center for Foreign Policy Studies, examines these and other internet-born initiatives and their future effect on war, diplomacy, and domestic politics in his book Wiki at War: Conflict in a Socially Networked World. The book is written in a lively and understandable style that is engaging for readers of all types. Carafano argues that old wisdom can still apply to the newly evolving online world of media and to protecting national security.

There is no doubt that the new age of internet has widespread and revolutionary impacts on the world’s communication, security, and politics. Become more informed and read more about it in Carafano’s book!