The Twitter Conflict

The Twitter Conflict: Civil War or Revolution?

Who would have ever thought that a social networking service would be one of the main tools to fuel a collective political act of violence?  Two years ago, Twitter helped fan the flames of political unrest into a critical domestic conflict.  In this blog I hope to shed further light on this conflict by identifying key variables of the conflict: type of force used, location, actors involved, balance of political power.  Through analyzing these key variables I will attempt to identify whether or not this conflict was a civil war or a revolution.

Before dissecting the Egyptian conflict, clear definitions of civil war and revolution needs be established. David Samuels, in his book Comparative Politics, defines civil war as: “armed combat within the boundaries of a sovereign state between parties that are subject to common authority at the start of hostilities” (Samuels 2012, 259). He continues on by defining revolution as:

[A]rmed conflict within a sovereign state, in which both the insurgents and the estate claim the allegiance of a significant proportion of the population; authority over the state is forcibly transferred from the state to the insurgents, and the insurgents subsequently bring about wholesale political change. (Samuels 2012, 269)

One main difference between these two definitions of these two conflicts is the subjugation of citizens to either one authority or the conflict being between insurgents and state who both have political support.  The other main difference is the final transfer of power once the conflict has been resolved. If political power has transferred over to the insurgents, it is referred to as a revolution.

This conflict begins with citizens’ distaste for their president, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011.  January 25, 2011, thousands of protestors gathered in contestation of this unpopular president. It is noted that: “Despite early use of brutal police force that left a hundred people dead, followed quickly by promises of government change and reform, Mubarak's autocratic regime seemed all but doomed as January drew to a close” (“Egyptian” 2012).  Early on in this conflict there was brutal force used to quell the protestors.  This conflict continued to escalate.  Protestors moved to effectively communicate details of protests in order to unify their efforts.  This is where Twitter was able to effectively unify and help mobilize thousands of protestors.

The government responded swiftly and forcefully to the growing insurgent party. 

On 28 January, the Egyptian government shut down all Internet service in the country. Twitter, a social networking service that protesters used to coordinate activities, had already been shut down. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, and fire hoses against protesters, and there were reports of the use of live ammunition. Sixty-two people were killed in clashes with police in Cairo and Alexandria, and thousands were arrested. Dozens more were killed over the weekend. (“Egyptian” 2012)

It is clear that the government severely escalated the force being used to quell insurgents.  It is also noted that both the state of Egypt and the insurgent group had millions of supporters on both sides.  After months of President Mubarak tightening his grip, in desperation to stay in power, he bowed out by submitting a resignation of office.

                Many aruge that although the fighting is over, Egypt is still in a sort of political power limbo.  The delicate seed of democracy is but sprouting.  Despite the some lack of government legitimacy, and given the factors of the conflict outlined above, I would argue that this conflict was indeed a revolution.  Only time may tell whether or not the seedling of democracy takes root and has greater legitimacy in a very delicate and treacherous environment.

 

References

"Egyptian Anti-Government Protests." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Global Issues In Context. Web. 9 Nov. 2012

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012.