Egypt Crisis the New Industrialist Revolution

“Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders.” Such telling words echoed by President Ronald Reagan in the late 1980’s are now monumentally reflective of the changes seen in Egypt today.

This epic uprising in the Arab world’s most populous and culturally endowed nation is truly a popular one, cutting across all sectors of society. Young and old, men and women, secular and religious, all are loudly clamoring for the replacement of a stagnant and corrupt three decade old autocratic regime that has been backed by the United States, in favor of genuine democratic social and political change.

Americans and the world alike have been mesmerized by the profound images shown in the media daily. But, important as these events are, there exists an even more profound lens through which an even greater significance and context is being revealed. The events in Tunisia, Egypt and earlier last year in Iran are reflective of a dynamic in Western civilization that will prove to be as transformational as the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th century.
                                                           
                                           The Information Revolution
We are at the crux of an information revolution that took off in full force a little over 20 years ago. As such, two fundamental and permanent social changes can be observed:

1) Liberal economic reforms of varying degrees ushered in by these countries over the last decade has forced open access to the internet for the vast majority of their citizens. Additionally and consequently, social network sights such as Facebook are allowing unprecedented grass roots organization which has translated directly into political protest. Today Tehran, the capital of the ‘Islamic’ Republic of Iran, is one of the most thoroughly wired cities in the world!

2) Secondly, and as a result of the above, repressive autocratic regimes are having to adjust the socio/political calculus which long previously defined their relationship with those they governed. By virtue of necessity then the practical implication will be more thorough enfranchisement and responsiveness towards those who are governed, i.e. greater democratization. No longer can these archaic regimes keep their populations in ignorance and despair.

Furthermore, given these remarkable times, the comparison with the Industrial Revolution is even more insightful when considering that it lasted a little more than 100 years, beginning with Fulton’s invention of the steam engine and coming into full fruition with the mass production in the U.S. in the late 1800 and early 1900’s. By contrast the Information Revolution as we know it today has taken only about 20-25 years since internet first became offered on a mass scale in the early to mid 1990’s.

                                                                The Threat of Islamic Radicalism
Change of course implies new order. And any new order implies uncertainties. For this reason the United States and others are somewhat unsure of how to manage the current crises. The greatest fear is of the unknown and where also lies a great deal of suspicion. Will these great changes lead to radical Islamic regimes, some ask?

This concern can best be addressed by considering in greater depth the context of the 2010 Iranian uprising. The vast majority of protestors were young, educated and “connected.” Access to the world wide web has been shown to increase awareness of and thirst for outside ideas. Young Iranians were protesting in favor of increasing Western style democratic reforms not against such.

Increasingly the appeal of having a better future means having a better understanding of the technological changes of today. Engaging in such to the fullest extent by economies and individuals worldwide is impossible ultimately without political transparency in the long run. This is precisely what Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt are realizing today. Increasingly also, there appears to be a direct correlation to the craving for genuine democratic and secular reform and the degree to which wireless access exists in a given country.

The new battlefield in the 21st century will be fought with ideas. The new armament for the masses has become the internet. President Obama would be wise heed the wisdom of Reagan’s great insight and put America firmly planted on the right side of this great new historical tide.