Radio Open Source has a fascinating podcast about the current Middle Eastern battles, examining Isreal and Hizbollah's competing information warfare strategies, or "the war of memes."
One important angle concerns Hizbollah's careful development of its own narrative. This is an insurgency story, with a series of locally appealing components: stoicism, refusal of luxury, the ability to signal military strikes through media, a grounding in civilian suffering. Hasan Nasrallah is one protagonist. The Qana strike is one key event.
Mark Lynch complements the view by noting that al-Jazeera is developing a pan-Arab narrative. This is war #6, in this story, and casts Israel versus the Arabs, not just the immediate participants. As with the Hizbollah story, this is grounded in civilian suffering, which is a different narrative than the clash of conventional armies in much of the previous five wars.
James der Derian sees Hizbollah taking the lead in this meme war partly because it practices asymmetrical war so well. Annia Ciezadlo goes further, setting up the familiar hierarchical contrast of bottom-up versus top-down media, but assigning Hizbollah to the former and Israel the latter.
Great title, too: "The Optics of This War."
This podcast is worth listening to with several other topics in mind: social software in this war, social Web video about/for/in the war.
What are the issues?
1. Israel's right to exist
2. Disputed territories: Golan Hieghts, West Bank, Sheeba Farms, Gaza, Sinai.
3. Sharing of resources - e.g. water from Golan Heights going to Jerusalem, not Damascus.
4. Hezbollah Rockets
5. Israeli aggression and assasinations
6. Terrorist activity on both sides - holding civilians hostage to further agression.
7. Weapons and influence of Iran and Syria
8. Weapons and influence of USA
9. Tie up of world's resources, and compromiose of USA foreign policy globally.
Posted by: Barry Monette | August 22, 2006 at 01:42