OP-ED: "The Virtual Mosque," by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, 17 June 2009.SUNDAY OPINION: "Winds of Change?" by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, 14 June 2009.
Great pair of pieces by Friedman that display his long-time analytic wizardry when it comes to explaining the forces of change in the Middle East.
The first piece argues implicitly that Bush's Big Bang strategy is finally yielding some serious fruit.
Yes, the new social networking technologies are crucial, but the example of Iraq helps make Lebanon conceivable, and Lebanon emboldens the average Iranian voter.
As for Obama? He's definitely an enabling factor, but nothing more. Guy's too smart to believe either the headlines or the more expansive claims of his aides.
The coolest bit from Friedman: calling social-networking techs the virtual equivalent of mosques. In the Before Time, you could only go to the mosque for such networking and it was all conservative. Now, the Net and its many venues have leveled the playing field quite a bit.
A nice, validating bit for his "flat world" mantra.
| Permalink |
