News Roundup Archive

Thursday, February 21, 2013

USIP's Science, Technology & Peacebuilding Roundup

United States Institute of Peace

 

Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding

Weekly News Roundup, February 14 - 20, 2013

Table of Contents

**Click here to subscribe to USIP's Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding News Roundup,
which includes a special section on Internet and social media.**


China, its Hackers, and the American Media
The New York Times' revelation that Unit 61398 of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) systematically hacked into U.S. computer networks has emerged as the latest salvo in the increasingly contentious Sino-American rivalry. While the story presented fresh evidence of Chinese hacking -- in stunning detail -- the aftermath presents more questions than answers.
See the full article (Atlantic, Matt Schiavenza, 2/20/13)
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Report: US Drone Attacks Rapidly Increasing in Afghanistan
According to a UN report released this week, civilian deaths in Afghanistan decreased in 2012 -- but drone attacks and deaths caused by anti-government groups such as the Taliban, however, increased significantly. The joint report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights tracks how the armed conflict affects civilians on an annual basis.
See the full article (Wired.co.uk, Liat Clark, 2/20/13)
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The Cool War
Cold War technology made war unthinkable. Cool War technology makes it irresistible. We are now in the midst of what could be called the Cool War. This successor to the Cold War shares the trait that it does not involve hot conflict on the battlefield, but is different in the nature and expectations surrounding the sub-rosa thrusts and parries by which it is conducted.
See the full article (Foreign Policy, 2/20/13)
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Wanted: Global Rules on Cyberwarfare
A report on cyberattacks and computer hacking originating with China's military highlights the need for international norms in cyberwarfare. Other new types of weapons led to new rules of war. Why not in cyberspace, too? A stunning report by a US digital-security company accuses China's military of conducting more than 100 cyberattacks on American corporate and government computers.
See the full article (Christian Science Monitor, 2/19/13)
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The Coming Water Wars
Globally, [conflicts over water] are bound to grow in number and ferocity. By 2050, the world's populations will be a third to a half again as large as today, with the biggest factor driving water consumption not being the home, school, or workplace tap or even industrial processes. Seventy percent of the world's usable water is consumed in agriculture-growing and raising our food.
See the full article (U.S. News and World Report, Clark S. Judge, 2/19/13)
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Climate Change's Links to Conflict Draws UN Attention
Imagine India in 2033. It has overtaken China as the most populous nation. Yet with 1.5 billion citizens to feed, it's been three years since the last monsoon. Without rain, crops die and people starve. The seeds of conflict take root. This is one of the scenarios presented today to members of the United Nations Security Council to show the connection between climate change and global security challenges.
See the full article (Bloomberg, Flavia Krause-Jackson, 2/15/13)
Click to read "Natural Disasters as Threats to Peace" a USIP Special Report by Frederick S. Tipson.
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New Data Tool Tracks Emerging Conflict Trends in Africa
A new online data tool for monitoring conflict trends in Africa can help governments and aid workers to analyse the impact of political, social and armed conflicts on communities, its creators said. By combining mapping, analysis and raw data from thousands of emerging and historical conflicts, the CCAPS Conflict Dashboard enables users to assess trends and detailed event data simultaneously.
See the full article (AlertNet, Astrid Zweynert, 2/15/13)
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Assessing the True Threat of Cyberwar
This week, President Obama issued an executive order to strengthen the nation's cyber security against what the government sees as a potentially cataclysmic threat. There has been plenty of drum beating about the threat of cyber warfare, but just how realistic is the threat of an attack that could wreak havoc on our national infrastructure?
See the full article (RFE/RL, 2/15/13)
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Click here to subscribe to USIP's Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding News Roundup,
which includes a special section on Internet and social media.

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USIP's Media, Conflict & Peacebuilding Roundup

United States Institute of Peace

 

Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding

Weekly News Roundup, February 14 - 20, 2013

Media and Journalism

Internet and Social Media

What's New from PeaceMedia

**Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.**


Media and Journalism

Somalia Offers $50,000 Reward to Catch Journalist Killers
Somalia's government has offered a $50,000 (37,000 euro) reward for information leading to the "successful conviction of a journalist killer", as the country reels from a spate of murders of media workers.At least 18 media workers were killed last year -- double the worst year on record and second only to war-torn Syria -- but no one has faced justice for the killings.
See the full article (AFP, 2/20/13)
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Iran's Skepticism of Foreign Media
Three weeks after authorities here arrested several Iranian journalists, saying they had been illegally working for foreign media without government permission, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence issued a statement saying three of the journalists had been freed on bail. The case offers a revealing, if at times confusing, glimpse into the unique nature of Iranian journalism.
See the full article (Washington Post, Jason Rezaian, 2/20/13)
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Jerome Delay: Photographing Mali's Invisible War
French photographer Jerome Delay has spent the past month photographing the unfolding conflict in Mali for the Associated Press. "When I took the Mali assignment a month ago, I wondered how, in an asymmetrical war, I would photograph a pick-up full of Jihadists being taken out by a smart bomb dropped from a Mirage fighter jet in the middle of the desert."
See the full article (New York Times, Jerome Delay, 2/19/13)
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The Triple Threat to Egyptian Press Freedom
As the Arab uprisings continue, war and state repression aren't the only threats to free expression. Egypt in the last week saw two other factors impinging on the independent media: bad finances and malignant bureaucracy. They pose a potent threat that could drastically worsen the dimming prospects for a transition away from authoritarianism.
See the full article (Atlantic, Thanassis Cambanis, 2/19/13)
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A Conversation With: Journalist and Author Rahul Pandita
Rahul Pandita is a journalist and author who belongs to the Kashmiri Pandit community, Hindus who had to flee the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s during a separatist insurgency by the Muslim majority. Mr. Pandita spoke recently about why his book was important in the Kashmir discourse and about some of the difficulties he faced in the writing process.
See the full article (Washington Post, Pamposh Raina, 2/19/13)
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'Prisoner X' Case Strains Israelis' Longtime Acceptance of Censorship
In the days after Israel partially acknowledged a report that it secretly jailed an Australian-Israeli main who later died in prison, there is doubt about the censorship powers that enabled the government to stifle the Israeli media until yesterday. The practice had been relatively accepted as a necessity in its early years because of a sense the country was constantly under attack.
See the full article (Christian Science Monitor, Joshua Mitnick, 2/15/13)
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Investigative Journalist in Intensive Care After Being Shot in Sri Lanka
An investigate journalist with dual Sri Lankan/British nationality is intensive care after being shot by unidentified gunmen in an incident which has prompted condemnation from the United Nations' top human rights official. Navi Pillay said she was deeply disturbed at the "attempted assassination" of a journalist working on a paper critical of the government.
See the full article (Guardian, 2/16/13)
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Media Advocacy Group Says Record Number of Journalists Imprisoned Worldwide in 2012
A record number of journalists were imprisoned worldwide in 2012 in a "deteriorating environment for press freedom," a leading media advocacy group said Thursday. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in its annual "Attacks on the Press" report that 232 journalists were jailed last year in a "trend driven primarily by terrorism and other anti-state charges levied against critical reporters and editors."
See the full article (AP, 2/14/13)
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Internet and Social Media

When Terrorists Take to Social Media
At the end of January, Twitter suspended the account of the Somali-based Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab. The account was taken offline after the group posted a video on Twitter threatening to kill two Kenyan hostages unless the Kenyan government met its demands. Social-media experts reasoned that Al-Shabaab had violated Twitter's terms of service, which prohibit direct threats of violence.
See the full article (Atlantic, Deane Kjuka, 2/20/13)
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Re-tweeted by the UN Secretary General? Educating the New Citizen Diplomat
Lack of access and transparency may no longer define diplomacy. Old barriers are no longer effective or perhaps desirable from perspective of global leaders and they embrace social media out of necessity or perhaps as opportunity. From the Syria conflict to climate change to economic inequality, the debate has moved rapidly online -- but does it really affect outcome or is it merely an outlet for frustration?
See the full article (Huffington Post, Muhamed Sacirbey, 2/20/13)
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In the Arab World's Deepest State, the Revolution Continues
In one of the earliest adoptions of the kind of grassroots social media organising, supporters of jailed young [Moroccans] combined email and internet campaigns with savvy publicity. Social media remains an important battleground, from Facebook to more innovative tools, all of which aim to challenge the widespread propaganda of the King/Makhzen and its foreign supporters and commentators state, the revolution continues.
See the full article (Al Jazeera, Mark LeVine, 2/20/13)
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How Social Networks Are Dealing With Terrorists
At the end of January, Twitter suspended the account of the Somali-based Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab. The account was taken offline after the group posted a video on Twitter threatening to kill two Kenyan hostages unless the Kenyan government met its demands. Twitter didn't comment on the account deletion, but social-media experts reasoned that Al-Shabaab had violated Twitter's terms of service.
See the full article (RFE/RL, Deana Kjuka, 2/20/13)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Media as Global Diplomat: Media That Moves Millions" on February 28 at 8:30am.
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Palestinian Blogger Chips Away at Israel's Image, One Ill-Advised Instagram at a Time
A young Israeli soldier was reprimanded by his superiors this week after his urge to share his military life with friends and strangers online led him to post a photograph on Instagram offering a view of the back of a Palestinian boy's head in the cross hairs of a sniper rifle. The photograph was discovered last week by the Palestinian-American activist Ali Abunimah.
See the full article (New York Times, Robert Mackey, 2/19/13)
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Facebook Page in Mexico Draws Attention for Posts on Security Risks
A Facebook page in Mexico has notched tens of thousands of followers for posting detailed but unconfirmed updates on security risks in the drug-war hot zone of Tamaulipas state. Now, purported assassins have declared a bounty on the head of the page's anonymous administrator. In response, the Facebook author said the page would not stop gathering and publishing information.
See the full article (Los Angeles Times, Daniel Hernandez, 2/19/13)
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Egypt Ministry Appeals Against Order to Block YouTube
Egypt's telecoms ministry has refused to block access to YouTube and has filed an appeal to reverse a court order asking it to do so. Last week, a judge ordered a block on access to the site for 30 days for hosting of an anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims, in 2012. The film sparked anger across the Muslim world. YouTube blocked access to the video in Egypt last September after widespread riots.
See the full article (BBC, 2/18/13)
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Dronestagram Uses Social Media to Highlight Drone Strikes
The use of drones to carry out military strikes is controversial, to say the least. But British artist James Bridle [is] adopting Web and mobile tools to tell his side of the story. His Dronestagram is a project that blends art and technology in an effort to show Americans, and others, a side of warfare that few will ever see in person.
See the full article (CNN, Chris Boyette, 2/15/2013)
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Iran Tightens Controls on Online Expression Ahead of June Vote
Iran appears to be taking measures to tighten online censorship ahead of its presidential vote. In recent days, a long list of online activities has been designated as criminal, including calling for an election boycott, organizing sit-ins or protests, and insulting presidential candidates. The new measures, if enforced, would put increased pressure on people who use the web or social media as platforms for online activism.
See the full article (RFE/RL, Golnaz Esfandiari, 2/14/13)
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What's New from PeaceMedia

"Creative Peace - Community, Public Arts, and War Torn Africa" - Foresee
Central Africa has experienced decades of violence. Millions of people have been displaced by war. By telling the story of these artists, Creative Peace will show how art can help grow peaceful futures in war-torn Africa. The stories we tell will have an impact on the narrative of these wars, showing that great hope can emerge from great sorrow.
See the full video
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Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.

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