Thursday, May 24, 2012

From Francis Fukuyama: The Failures of the Facebook Generation in the Arab Spring

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/21/the-failures-of-the-facebook-generation-in-the-arab-spring.html


The Failures of the Facebook Generation in the Arab Spring

In the upcoming Egyptian elections the country is choosing between Islamists and old Mubarak supporters. Francis Fukuyama on how the Facebook revolution of the Arab Spring has failed to deliver lasting political change. 

"But part of the blame lies with Egypt’s liberals themselves. They could organize protests and demonstrations, and act with often reckless courage to challenge the old regime. But they could not go on to rally around a single candidate, and then engage in the slow, dull, grinding work of organizing a political party that could contest an election, district by district. Political parties exist in order to institutionalize political participation; those who were best at organizing, like the Muslim Brotherhood, have walked off with most of the marbles. Facebook, it seems, produces a sharp, blinding flash in the pan, but it does not generate enough heat over an extended period to warm the house."




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