USIP's Science, Technology & Peacebuilding Roundup

 

Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding Weekly News Roundup, December 6 - 12, 2012 Table of Contents North Korea Rocket Launch Raises Nuclear Stakes (Reuters, 12/12/12) What the Syrian Internet Outage Tells Us About the Ultimate Dual-use Technology (Foreign Policy, 12/12/12) UN Security Council Condemns North Korea Rocket Launch (RFE/RL, 12/12/12) Iran Says it Can Make Copy of Captured CIA Drone (USA Today, 12/12/12) Sudan: Israeli 'Spy Vulture' Nabbed During Reconnaissance Mission (CNN, 12/12/12) Africa's Digital Election Trackers (Al Jazeera, 12/12/12) Meet the Assadosphere, the Online Defenders of Syria's Butcher (Wired, 12/11/12) The Promise and Pitfalls of Science Diplomacy (Wired, 12/11/12) Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare (Wired, 12/11/12) Google Trends: The Moment Syria's 'Revolution' Became a 'Civil War' (Washington Post, 12/10/12) Death by Algorithm: West Point Code Shows Which Terrorists Should Disappear First (Wired, 12/6/12) **Click here to subscribe to USIP's Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding News Roundup, which includes a special section on Internet and social media.** North Korea Rocket Launch Raises Nuclear Stakes North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents. The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far away as the continental United States. See the full article (Reuters, Jack Kim and Mayumi Negishi, 12/12/12) [Return to top] What the Syrian Internet Outage Tells Us About the Ultimate Dual-use Technology Last week, a front page story in the Washington Post began: "Syria's civil war went offline Thursday as millions of people tracking the conflict over YouTube, Facebook and other high-tech services found themselves struggling against an unnerving national shutdown of the Internet." Despite denials from the Syrian government, there is strong evidence that they were in fact responsible for this attempt at isolating the country from the global information commons. See the full article (Foreign Policy, Irving Lachow, 12/12/12) [Return to top] UN Security Council Condemns North Korea Rocket Launch The UN Security Council has condemned North Korea's rocket launch, after the isolated nation broke international law and UN sanctions by launching what Pyongyang says is a weather satellite into orbit. A senior Western diplomat also told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the United States, European states, Japan, and South Korea were among the countries that would like to see a resolution expanding sanctions against the regime passed. See the full article (RFE/RL, 12/12/12) [Return to top] Iran Says it Can Make Copy of Captured CIA Drone Iran is now capable of manufacturing its own copies of an advanced CIA spy drone captured last year, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday. Avaz Heidarpour, a member of the parliament's national security committee, said production of RQ-170 drone cost the U.S. around $20 billion, but the expensive technology is now in Iran's possession through reverse engineering. See the full article (USA Today, 12/12/12) [Return to top] Sudan: Israeli 'Spy Vulture' Nabbed During Reconnaissance Mission A vulture captured by Sudanese authorities is actually an Israeli spy on a secret reconnaissance mission, a pro-government newspaper in the east African nation has claimed. Government sources say the vulture, found in western Sudan, was tagged with a GPS-equipped camera to take and send pictures back to Israel. The bird also wore an ankle label reading "Hebrew University Jerusalem," "Israel Nature Service" and the contact details of an Israeli avian ecologist. See the full article (CNN, Nick Thompson and Nima Elbagir, 12/12/12) [Return to top] Africa's Digital Election Trackers A diverse range of information in sub-Saharan Africa - on everything from elections to regional drug shortages - is increasingly being monitored electronically. SMS and web-mapping services such as Google Maps are favourite tools for these efforts. There's a growing list of high-profile supporters for these types of activities. See the full article (Al Jazeera, Travis Lupick, 12/12/12) Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Crisis in Mali: Causes and Options" on December 18 at 10:00am. [Return to top] Meet the Assadosphere, the Online Defenders of Syria's Butcher You might think it's hard to defend Bashar Assad, the Syrian dictator responsible for the murder of 40,000 human beings. You must be new to the internet. Assad doesn't have many allies IRL. But as the Syrian rebellion stretches into its 20th month, he's found (and paid for) a whole heap of friends online. Welcome to the Assadosphere - on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and the web. See the full article (Wired, Spencer Ackerman, 12/11/12) [Return to top] The Promise and Pitfalls of Science Diplomacy This notion of science as a diplomatic tool - its use as an entry point to a recalcitrant society that simultaneously breaks down politically steeped preconceptions and offers tangible benefits - is a promising mode of development and a constructive brand of international relations. The Obama Administration understands the value of science diplomacy; last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the expansion of the Science Envoy program. See the full article (Wired, Jeffrey Marlow, 12/11/12) Click to read "Enabling Agricultural Extension for Peacebuilding" a USIP Special Report by Andrew Robertson. [Return to top] Hacking the Human Brain: The Next Domain of Warfare It's been fashionable in military circles to talk about cyberspace as a "fifth domain" for warfare, along with land, space, air and sea. But there's a sixth and arguably more important warfighting domain emerging: the human brain. This new battlespace is not just about influencing hearts and minds with people seeking information. And the most powerful tool in this war is brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, which connect the human brain to devices. See the full article (Wired, Chloe Diggins and Clint Arizmendi, 12/11/12) [Return to top] Google Trends: The Moment Syria's 'Revolution' Became a 'Civil War' Google trends tracks the frequency with which Google users enter certain search terms over time. It's an imperfect but revealing indication of how particular stories are perceived. And, based on the program's data, it looks like the world (or the cross-section that uses Google, anyway) is coming to see the 21-month conflict in Syria as more civil war than revolution or uprising. See the full article (Washington Post, Max Fisher, 12/10/12) [Return to top] Death by Algorithm: West Point Code Shows Which Terrorists Should Disappear First Paulo Shakarian has an algorithm that might one day help dismantle al-Qaida - or at least one of its lesser affiliates. It's an algorithm that identifies which people in a terror network really matter, like the mid-level players, who connect smaller cells with the larger militant group. Remove those people, either by drone or by capture, and it concentrates power and authority in the hands of one man. Remove that man, and you've broken the organization. See the full article (Wired, Noah Shachtman, 12/6/12) [Return to top] Click here to subscribe to USIP's Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding News Roundup, which includes a special section on Internet and social media. Did we miss anything?     Share this: | Forward this to a Friend

 

USIP's Media, Conflict & Peacebuilding Roundup

Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding Weekly News Roundup, December 6 - 12, 2012 Media and Journalism Journalist Held in Syria Faces Execution by Her Kidnappers (Guardian, 12/12/12) Exile Media Crafting New Role from Inside Myanmar (AFP, 12/11/12) More Journalists Are Held in the World's Jails Than Ever Before (Guardian, 12/11/12) Video: The al-Jazeera Documentary that Burma's Government Publicly Condemned (Washington Post, 12/10/12) Egypt Crisis: Morsi Government 'Pressuring Media' (BBC, 12/8/12) Internet and Social Media US Diplomacy Goes Virtual with Youth Video Game (AFP, 12/12/12) What the Syrian Internet Outage Tells Us About the Ultimate Dual-use Technology (Foreign Policy, 12/12/12) Facebook Shuts Down Taliban Recruiting Account (Washington Post, 12/10/12) North Korea: On the Net in World's Most Secretive Nation (BBC, 12/10/12) Lost in Cyberspace (Foreign Policy, 12/10/12) Google Trends: The Moment Syria's 'Revolution' Became a 'Civil War' (Washington Post, 12/10/12) The First Social Media War Between Israel and Gaza (Guardian, 12/6/12) What's New from PeaceMedia "Gidon Bromberg on the Jordan River Peace Park" - Environmental Change and Security Program **Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.** Media and Journalism Journalist Held in Syria Faces Execution by Her Kidnappers The captors of a journalist in Syria are threatening to execute her tomorrow unless their demands for a $50m ransom are met. Anhar Kochneva, a reporter with Russian and Ukrainian dual nationality, was kidnapped by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) near the city of Homs at the beginning of October. She was said to be on assignment for several Russian media outlets. See the full article (Guardian, Roy Greenslade, 12/12/12) [Return to top] Exile Media Crafting New Role from Inside Myanmar Their journalists risked jail terms to report inside Myanmar under years of brutal junta rule, but once-exiled media now operate openly -- and face flak for being too cozy with the new leaders. In a dramatic change of fortunes, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the Irrawaddy website and Mizzima News agency have all set up offices in Yangon, lured back by the reforms their journalism helped engender. See the full article (AFP, Amelie Bottollier-Depois, 12/11/12) [Return to top] More Journalists Are Held in the World's Jails Than Ever Before Large-scale imprisonments in Turkey, Iran, and China lifted the global tally to its highest point since 1990. Eritrea and Syria also ranked among the world's worst, each jailing numerous journalists without charge or due process and holding them in secret prisons without access to lawyers or family members. In total, 63 journalists are being held without any publicly disclosed charge. Here, country by country, are the 10 worst jailers. See the full article (Guardian, Roy Greenslade, 12/11/12) [Return to top] Video: The al-Jazeera Documentary that Burma's Government Publicly Condemned An al-Jazeera English documentary on violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma's western province of Rakhine has earned a formal, public rebuke from the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 50-minute program documents the persecution of Burma's ethnic Rohingya minority, who are Muslim. Most Burmese are Buddhist. The Rohingya issue, including the minority's uncertain future, seems to be getting worse as Burma embarks on an otherwise promising agenda of reforms. See the full article (Washington Post, Max Fisher, 12/10/12) [Return to top] Egypt Crisis: Morsi Government 'Pressuring Media' In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the former head of the Egyptian State Television network has claimed he resigned in protest against the new government's "mis-handling" of demonstrations and at its "interference in state media". Essam El Amir is one of a number of high profile state television figures to resign in protest over government pressure to broadcast pro-Muslim Brotherhood propaganda. See the full article (BBC, 12/8/12) [Return to top]   Internet and Social Media US Diplomacy Goes Virtual with Youth Video Game The United States expanded its e-diplomacy efforts Wednesday with the launch of a video game aimed at helping young people get a better understanding of American language and culture. The game "Trace Effects," allows players to follow a university student named Trace, from the year 2045, who has accidentally traveled back in time to the present. It explores "themes related to entrepreneurship, community activism, empowering women, science and innovation, environmental conservation, and conflict resolution." See the full article (AFP, 12/12/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section] What the Syrian Internet Outage Tells Us About the Ultimate Dual-use Technology Last week, a front page story in the Washington Post began: "Syria's civil war went offline Thursday as millions of people tracking the conflict over YouTube, Facebook and other high-tech services found themselves struggling against an unnerving national shutdown of the Internet." Despite denials from the Syrian government, there is strong evidence that they were in fact responsible for this attempt at isolating the country from the global information commons. See the full article (Foreign Policy, Irving Lachow, 12/12/12) Click to read "Syria: Human Rights, Minorities, and the Challenge of Accountability" a Congressional Testimony by USIP's Steven Heydemann. [Return to top] | [Return to section] Facebook Shuts Down Taliban Recruiting Account For a few brief weeks, you could see posts from the Pakistani Taliban in your Facebook feed, right next to Post articles and baby photos. But over the weekend, Facebook shut down a recruiting page for the TTP, or Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan - much to nobody's surprise. According to the Los Angeles Times, the TTP page was recruiting contributors for a new quarterly magazine called Ahyah-e-Khilafat, or Sign of the Caliphate. See the full article (Washington Post, Caitlin Dewey, 12/10/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section] North Korea: On the Net in World's Most Secretive Nation There's a curious quirk on every official North Korean website. A piece of programming that must be included in each page's code. Its function is straightforward but important. Whenever leader Kim Jong-un is mentioned, his name is automatically displayed ever so slightly bigger than the text around it. Not by much, but just enough to make it stand out. It's just one facet of the "internet" in North Korea, a uniquely fascinating place. See the full article (BBC, Dave Lee, 12/10/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section] Lost in Cyberspace According to a draft U.S. State Department document obtained by the blog Diplopundit, State employees tweeting in their official capacity may soon have to submit their tweets to a two-day review before posting them. Although the review began before the U.S. Embassy in Cairo tweeted controversial denunciations of the anti-Mohamed YouTube clip that sparked riots in September, friends at State tell me that Embassy Cairo's tweets gave added urgency to the effort to draft new guidelines for online behavior. See the full article (Foreign Policy, Will McCants, 12/10/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section] Google Trends: The Moment Syria's 'Revolution' Became a 'Civil War' Google trends tracks the frequency with which Google users enter certain search terms over time. It's an imperfect but revealing indication of how particular stories are perceived. And, based on the program's data, it looks like the world (or the cross-section that uses Google, anyway) is coming to see the 21-month conflict in Syria as more civil war than revolution or uprising. See the full article (Washington Post, Max Fisher, 12/10/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section] The First Social Media War Between Israel and Gaza The most recent Israel-Palestine conflict was the first to see the introduction of widespread social media warfare. From the start, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and Hamas shared clips on YouTube, and posted messages and images on Facebook and Twitter. But the social media war had many other participants. Unlike any other war in the past, the Israeli-Gaza conflict has been characterised by the mass virtual participation of ordinary people via social media. See the full article (Guardian, Ariel Peled, 12/6/12) [Return to top] | [Return to section]   What's New from PeaceMedia "Gidon Bromberg on the Jordan River Peace Park" - Environmental Change and Security Program The Jordan River Peace Park will help "rehabilitate the river, create economic opportunities for communities on both sides of the river's banks" and serve "as a concrete example of peacebuilding," says Gidon Bromberg in this short expert analysis from the Environmental Change and Security program. Bromberg, co-director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, explains how the new peace park will help build peace by bringing together Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian environmentalists. See the full video [Return to top] Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup. Did we miss anything?     Share this: | Forward this to a Friend