The role of social media in Libya.

How much and what kind of a role does social media have in the revolutions presently going on around the world? I believe that Facebook and Twitter do indeed have an important tactical importance - they make it easier for like minded people to coordinate their activities. They also help in recruiting support for the revolution internally and abroad. Social media was not, however, the cause of any of these revolutions any more than was the telephone or the radio. The technology evolves, but the basic cause of revolution remains the same - discontent with the status-quo.

Once a revolution gets under way, the regime is in serious trouble, even if it succeeds in putting the current rebellion down for the time being. The only way to eliminate the threat entirely is to remove the discontent which is at the heart of the matter. For the same reason, it is not enough to just topple the existing regime. If the successor government does not do the things necessary to convince the population that the underlying causes of discontent are being acceptably addressed, a new rebellion will begin to smolder.

The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have successfully toppled governments that were unacceptable to a large portion of their people and are now attempting to find their way toward creating governments that hopefully will be able to address the basic problems facing those countries. The problems that these revolutionaries face are enormous. The organization of their new government is very important and it is understandable that they are now primarily focused on that challenge. Who will sit in which governmental chair and how will he or she be selected? We can expect that all elements of the populace will be interested in that subject - including people who have objectives that we do not like.

In today's global economy, whether we like it or not, what happens in one part of the world impacts all parts. It is safe to predict that the turmoil that currently exists in the Middle East and North Africa will continue to give us very real problems no matter what form of government emerges from these chaotic revolutions. The principal reason for this is that endemic poverty in the region ensures the discontent that fosters revolution. Poverty is by no means the only cause, but, combined with unfulfilled aspirations, it is the root cause.

Today, we are bombing one faction in Libya in support of another faction. This is an attempt to apply a tactical solution to a strategic problem. It might or might not temporarily improve our tactical situation in the region, but it does not address the strategic challenge. Neither will much of anything that we do with either Twitter or Facebook. I am all for championing democracy, but if we want to protect ourselves from an ever more dangerous world we must deal with poverty throughout the world including right here in our own country. In order to accomplish this we must understand that we can not just throw money at the problem. We have to find ways to make that money effective. Until we do that we will continue to have to bomb people more than we like.