WHY THE SUDDEN SURGE OF PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENTS?

Many answers have been proposed. Some point to international causes: the military overthrow of authoritarian regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq was shock therapy for a stagnant Middle East and Central Asia; the Iraqi elections inspired others who are living without the benefits of democracy; the latest developments are just a continuation of the “third wave” of democratization that began at the end of the Cold War. Other answers to the “Why now?” question relate to the conditions within societies that lead to the successful mobilization of democratic sentiment — the factors that allow unified oppositions and disciplined political movements to form.

There is, of course, no single answer to this question.

However, the role of information and communication technology in these recent revolutions is one prominent factor that is utterly new, as the amount of attention this phenomenon has received suggests. Indeed, the Internet, blogs, cell phones, and satellite television have been prominent players in democratic movements from Egypt to Ukraine, and these technologies have served as both international and intra-national catalysts for political change.

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