The Important Parts Of Giving A Speech

The Important Parts Of Giving A Speech Firstly, the most important part of presenting a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the preparation for the speech which the speaker is about to deliver. There are a few mistakes made by the speaker that obviously shows that he is not prepared for his speech. One of the most obvious mistakes done by him was he did not rehearse his slides before his presentation. He even forgot the title of the speech he is delivering and had to refer back to the slides to see what his title was. As part of his preparation, he should rehearse his slides at least 7 times before he starts presenting his speech. He should stand in front of the mirror and practice presenting his speech so he can analyze what his presentation is lacking. With that tried, he could improve his speech delivery. Based on the text book written by Stephen E. Lucas, he quoted that a powerful speech could have genuine impact on the listeners and as a speaker he should have an ethical responsibility to consider that impact and t o make sure he is fully prepared so as he do not convey misleading information to the audience (Lucas, 2008). Misleading information could have cause tragic result to the audience as they trust the speaker for what they say. No matter what the topic is, the speaker should do extensive research to avoid any misleading or inappropriate information. Besides that, the title of the speech was too broad as well. This shows that he did not narrow down the topic. This part of his preparation is vital, as his topic should not be too broad and should be more focused before delivering to the audience. Otherwise, audience will not pay attention to what he is saying. Another mistake by the speaker was that his goals are not ethically sound. Based on the textbook, a speakers goal should be strong on its ground (Lucas, 2008). In his book, Stephen E. Lucas also mentioned that a responsible public speaker cant escape the ethical soundness of their goals. The speaker should also prepare cue cards so that he can refer and also to remind him about his points when he is delivering his speech. Cue cards should contain the key words which reminds the speakers of their points and explanations. No audiences want to see their speaker stutter on stage, because this shows the lack of confidence and lack of preparations for the speech. Thus, the preparation before a speech is a vital process in giving a speech. Secondly, another important part on presenting a speech is that cannot be done wrongly is the delivery to the audiences. The speaker made a few mistakes on the delivery aspects of his speech. To start off, he pauses frequently when delivering his ideas or thoughts due to the lack of preparations. Therefore, there are many awkward silences in the middle of his speech. Moreover, the speaker always filled the silence with the sound erm ah and so on and this is actually a very crucial mistake for a speaker. A speaker should not do that while delivering a speech because it will give the audience a negative perception or thoughts on that particular speakers intelligence. A good speaker should pauses his speech at the right time which means he should pauses in the end of his thoughts or ideas but not in the middle of it because it will confuse the audience. Secondly, the speakers voice is not clear and he likes to babble when he delivering the speech. These will actually make it difficult f or the audiences to listen to his points. As a result, the audience may not able to get full and precise information from the speaker. Therefore, voice clarity is actually an important factor in order to have an ideal speech delivery. Therefore, the speaker should speak and pronounce the word by word clearly to the audience regardless whether it is slow or fast.(Lucas, 2008) Besides that, another mistake the speaker made is that he did not use transitional devices or connectors in his speech. As a result, this could make the speech delivered ineffective because normally, connectors or transitional devices are used to signal the beginning and the end of the ideas, thoughts and sentence. In addition, the speaker also has problems with his body gestures when he is delivering his speech. To begin with, his body gesture throughout the speech delivery seems to be unnatural. As a result, the audience will feel that the speaker is not well-prepared or confident enough in delivering his spee ch. As we all know, body gestures normally appears naturally because it helps to clarify and reinforce the speakers idea. On the other hand, the speaker has a problem with his eye contact. He seems to not have eye contact with his audiences mainly because he is always looking back at the slides because he is not sure whether which point he should deliver next. Therefore, he loses his eye contact with his audience so he failed to analyze the audiences reactions and feelings while he was delivering his speech. He should prepare well and focus more on his eye contact with the audience because it is crucial to know what the feelings and reactions of the audience are while he is delivering his speech and identify his mistakes if he feels that audience is not comfortable with his speech delivery. Other than that, he is also having problems with his body movement when he gave the speech. From the video, we can see some of the body movement he likes to do. For instance, he likes to put his hand inside his pocket, lean forward, and shift his weight from one foot to another. This actually shows that he was nervous during the speech delivery. Moreover, there is also a disadvantage when a speaker leans forward because when a person leans forward, his head will look down to the floor so it will affect his voice projection. As a result, the voice is not projected straight to the audience instead the voice is projected to the floor. He should instead stand straight up while delivering the speech as to project his sound towards the audiences.( Lucas, 2008) To conclude, the delivery of a speech is a very important criteria. If done wrongly, it could cause mislay and inaccuracy of information. Thirdly, another important part of presenting a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the visual aids used. The mistakes that were made by the speaker while using visual aids can be categorized into two different categories, which is under the preparation of visual aids, and the presentation of visual aids. The first mistake that the speaker made from the category of preparations of visual aids is that the points in PowerPoint slides is not well organized and is complicated. Visual aids should be simple, clear, and straight to the point. Besides that, the points should be narrowed down and limit to a manageable amount of information. The basic rule is to include in your visual aid on only what you need to make your point. The second mistake is that the visual aids are too small for the audiences to see. There is no point for a visual aid if no one can see it. So bear in mind the size of the room in which you will be speaking and make sure your aid is big enough to be seen easily by e veryone. The third mistake is the use of unsuitable fonts. Not all fonts are suitable for visual aids. The speaker should avoid decorative fonts. He should try to use a limited number of fonts. Some variety of fonts in a visual aid is appealing, but can be distracting. (Lucas, 2008) Using two types of fonts as per heading and per content is sufficient for a visual aid as suggested by experts. The second category, presentation of visual aids, under which the speaker made a mistake, is that he actually talks to his visual aid instead of the audience. The speaker should talk to the audience and not to the visual aid. When explaining the visual aid, it is easy to break eye contact with audience and speak to the aid. Of course, the listeners are looking at the aid, and will need to glance at it time after time as the speaker talk. He may lose his audience if u keeps his eyes on his visual aids during the speech. By having eye contact with the audiences he may benefit from the feedbacks b y the audience on the visual aid he is using. Another mistake the speaker made is that the explanation is insufficient, not clear and not concise. Everyone knows visual aids do not explain it selves; the speaker needs to explain his visual aid to the audience. But sadly, all he does is reading from it. It is a fundamental knowledge of giving a speech that explaining the points on a visual aid is a must. The speaker should explain in detail what he included in the visual aid as it is vital information on his speech and it is important for the audience to understand it as it is the whole point of using a visual aid. The speaker should remember that a visual aid is useful only if the explanations come with it. (Lucas, 2008) Therefore, to fully utilize the visual aid, the speaker should avoid making these fundamental mistakes as it will cost him the audiences attention. Last but not least, another important aspect of giving a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the method of usage of the PowerPoint slides. The mistakes that the speaker made when he was using the PowerPoint slides can be divided into two categories, which is the format of the slides, and the delivery of the speech with the slides. The format of the PowerPoint slides consists of color, text, fonts, images, space, and animation of the slides. The first mistake the speaker made in the format of the slides is including too much texts in she slides. He should not include too much text in a single slide; including too much text will cause the font size to decrease, thus causing difficulty in reading for the audiences. He should instead limit himself to a few lines per slide and make it brief. The second mistake the speaker made is that he failed to give enough spaces for the contents in the slides due to the overload of texts per slide. This causes the slide to lack visual balance and co uld be hard for the audiences to read. According to textbook by Lucas, one must make sure that ones slide is provided with adequate amount of visual balance no matter what kind of element was included in a slide.( Lucas, 2008) Subsequently, the speaker also made a number of mistakes in delivering his speech using the PowerPoint slides. As we know, to deliver a speech using the slides needs good timing and careful planning. It will be disastrous if the slides went wrong during the presentation. The first mistake the speaker made in the delivery of the speech with the slides is that he could not find the slide he was looking for during the presentation. This means that he did not recheck his slides after doing them and may have left out some vital information. What he should do is to always double-check his slides for mistakes or in this case, left-out information. (Lucas, 2008) The second mistake that the speaker made is that he did not prepare and rehearse with his slides. This can be seen during which he had trouble linking his hand notes with his slides. The speaker abandoned the notes and read from the PowerPoint slides instead. He should have rehearse with his slides before presenting because using PowerPoint in presentation needs good timing and careful planning. Another mistake the speaker made is that he did not check the room and equipments provided before the speech. Judging by the fact that he did not use a projector to project is slide could mean two scenarios; either the room does not have a projector or the fact that his computers port is not compatible with the projector port. One way or the other, he should have checked the room and equipments and make necessary preparations or adjustment before deciding on doing a PowerPoint presentation. (Lucas, 2008) Thus, the mistakes that the speaker made in using the PowerPoint slides is very fundamental and should be avoided at all cost because it will gravely affect the outcome of the presentation. In conclusion, these four aspects, preparations, delivery, visual aids, and methods of using PowerPoint slides are of utmost importance and shouldnt be taken lightly by the speaker if he wants to give a good speech. Delivering a good speech is not a natural talent but a talent nurtured by the speaker themselves. Everyone can be a good speaker; all you need is sufficient preparation, proper delivery, easy to understand PowerPoint and also attractive visual aids. We believe that if all of these aspects were properly done then the speech delivered by the speaker will be convincing and attracting to the audiences. Good preparations for the speech will help the speaker so that he wont be nervous when he is delivering his speech and also to prevent him from forgetting his point. When delivering the speech the speaker should improve on his body gesture so that they dont look dull and unnatural to the audience. This is very important to prevent the audiences from losing attention to the spea ker. Attractive visual aids will further enhance the speakers point and help the audience to understand the speech better. Lastly the PowerPoint slides used to help the audience to understand the speech better should not have too many words so that it will not confuse the audience. It should be kept simple. With all that above done in by the speaker, the speech delivered by the speaker will be interesting and the messages will be conveyed successfully.

The deforestation on amazon

Thatiana SalinasDeforestation is a longer-term change of the forest to several other sorts of ecosystems, for illustration agricultural or residential land. Sometimes, on the other manus, the name is used as an indicant to some state of affairss in which woods are concerned, for case by distinct crop, even if another forest accordingly regenerates in its topographic point. A assortment of human activities consequences in net losingss of forest country and accordingly contributes to some of the causes of deforestation. One of the primary grounds for deforestation can be the construct of new agricultural land and an untenable harvest home of trees. Today, Brazil rain woods, and the 1000000s of animals that live within them, are in danger. Earths largest rain wood is found on the Amazon River in South America. It is 5.2 square kilometres in size. Taking up merely 6 to 7 per centum of the planet ‘s land surface. It is home to more than half of the universe ‘s animate being and works species. Scientists believe that several species become nonextant every twenty-four hours. Extinction is taking topographic point because the rain woods are being destroyed. About one and a half square stat mis of Amazon rain forest, is destroyed every hr. Although, one of the most of import planetary environmental issues today is the deforestation in Brazils rain forests ; Trees are being cut down at increasingly higher and higher rates. If this is non stopped many critical side effects could ensue. During the past 40 old ages, about 20 per centum of the Amazon rain forest has been cut down. Since early European colonisation began in the Amazon more than 450 old ages ago, less trees were cut down in that whole clip than the past 40 old ages. Countless others suffer uncertainness and fright, as their lives are being threatened by those who want to gain from the larceny of land and lumber. Deforestation in Amazonia has proceeded with a sequence of assorted forces in different epochs. An epoch known as â€Å"The Amazon Rubber Boom† lasted from 1880 during the creative activity of the pneumatic tyre to the start of the commercial production of gum elastic from plantations in 1914 in Southeast Asia. Much of the agricultural land was discarded to inferior forest when the gum elastic roar collapsed. The expression of altered or ruined countries in Amazonia is straight connected to the patterned advance of human business. Human engagement in the wood is centuries-old ; they would do usage of the trees for wood or the woods non-wood merchandises, or for the public presentation of conventional slash-and-burn agribusiness and barbarous cattle-raising. A good portion of business began in the early 1940s, by the creative activity of the â€Å"Superintendence of the Plan for the Economic Valorization of Amazonia or SPVEA.† The major achievement was the building of the Belem-Brasilia main road in the sixtiess, which in add-on, started the pattern of disforesting near the roads for the constitution of small towns and colonies. Quickly, extra roads were constructed with revenue enhancement clauses, such as the Trans-Amazonia Highway, were formed for small-scale agribusiness and concentrated cattle-raising in those colonies. Finally, by the mid-1970s the decentralized rural-model had failed, a program of large-scale undertakings was implemented as an option with a significant add-on of financess toward largely the extraction of wood, cattle-raising, energy-manufacturing enterprises and the excavation of ore. As a consequence, the most of import development undertakings such as â€Å"Polamazonia† and â€Å"Grande Carajas† reciprocally came to be with the gap of the Belem-Brasilia main road. These undertakings contributed to the deforestation of the Amazon. This signifier of advancement based on large-scale undertakings that are still in action such as the alleged â€Å"axes of regional development† , â€Å"Avanca Brazil† and â€Å"Brazil em Acao† , besides related to the gap and pavement of roadways, by a highly controversial environmental impact vs. benefit rate. The societal factors are infinite and hard to understand. We all have heard plenty information and concerns about salvaging the Brazilian rain forest, but few of us, outside the scientific group of people in fact understand why a group of trees in South America are of import to us. Fewer still recognize the societal, and finally economic, costs that will roll up now and when the rain forest of Amazonia is wiped from the face of the Earth. One of the primary grounds of deforestation in Brazil ‘s Amazon is the harvest home of its timber, but there are several other grounds for the same issue. Commercial lumbermans devastate monolithic countries of the forest to reap the trees they want. Not merely are the trees torn down but their lianas and vines are torn down with them every bit good, that are connected to other trees. As these are lacerate down, these lianas and vine signifier immense canopies above the forest floor come down with them every bit good. As the short pantss of these trees are removed it is believed that they cause extra harm to anything in their way as they are heedlessly pulled throughout the rain forest. The extra weight of the big machinery besides compact ‘s the soft dirt of the Amazon with their big piece of lands, doing it about impossible to reconstruct itself to its natural province. A major menace to Brazil ‘s biodiversity is commercial agribusiness as the agriculture of soya beans and raising cowss are among some of the most terrible instances of deforestation in the Amazon. Indefensible subsistence agriculture is besides believed to endanger the Amazon. At one point in clip, many colonists who migrated to Brazil were encouraged to settle in the part of the Amazon. As they began farming they continued to farm utilizing the procedures they learned from where they were from alternatively of accommodating the manner they would farm. Unfortunately the manner they farmed the land which was suited for other dirts and climes, they were non equal for the Amazon country. Resulting in migrators being forced to relocate go oning to do what is believed as a rhythm of devastation, because the land productiveness in the Amazon normally declines aggressively after approximately three to four old ages. In the wood, excavation is besides a subscriber due to the big equipment that is known to interrupt life in the country, which besides forces the native folks to populate elsewhere and pollutes the air. As an illustration, hydroelectric dikes have been built in Brazil because its authorities had feared of an energy deficit. Due to this fear several big countries of the Amazon were leveled to construct the energy bring forthing dikes. The edifice of these dikes developed concerns of eroding around the country. The adjacent animate beings and folks to the dikes were forced to travel. An eruption of several H2O borne diseases due to the dikes caused taint in the country. During a 3 twelvemonth survey in Sao Paulo, Brazil, referenced as the â€Å"The Greenpeace study – Butchering the Amazon† is a elaborate expression into the states cattle industry, the state ‘s chief supply of CO2 emanations every bit good as the largest individual driving beginning of deforestation on record anywhere in the universe. Deforestation is considered so unsafe due to the C dioxide that is produced by all states and is turned into O in the forest photosynthesis. The survey exposed the Brazilian authorities ‘s engagement in bankrolling deforestation of the Amazon, every bit good as bring outing many of the top name shoe trade names need for leather – such as Adidas, Nike, Reebok, and Timberland, may hold caused cattle ranchers to illicitly and unjustly slaughter animate beings in the Amazon. Besides mentioned in the study â€Å"Slaughtering the Amazon† , the trailing of leather, beef, and other related cowss merchandises that are manufactured by spreads that are besides involved in condemnable and illegal deforestation of the Amazon as they supply these merchandises to processing workss, distributors, and in conclusion the consumer populace. This study besides uncovers the demand to stop deforestation in the Amazon for its cattle population and the critical demand of holding people, industry, and authoritiess jointly cooperate to set up a cosmopolitan solution that protects our tropical woods to assist command the result of alterations to our clime better known as Global Warming. Brazil ‘s rain wood is known to hold the 4th largest emmittence of nursery gasses in the universe which is mostly in portion of deforestation-related emanations. Rain woods are critical to making a balance to the universe ‘s clime due to the fact that they can hive away such a monolithic supply of C. In our Earths forest there is about 150 per centum more C stored than there is in the Earth ‘s ambiance. It is likely that in the Brazil rain forest, it is believed to hive away someplace about 80 to 120 billion dozenss of C. It is besides believed that if the Amazon were to no longer be, due to deforestation, it would let go of someplace in the country of 50 times the one-year nursery gas emanations that is produced in United States. If we want to besides forestall black alteration in clime, we need to continue our universe ‘s rain forests. Deforestation of our tropical rain woods can be responsible for up to 20 per centum of the universe ‘s nursery gas ema nations, bring forthing more than all the autos, trains, planes, trucks, and ships in the combined in the universe today combined. This is precisely why organisations as Greenpeace are buttonholing for a Zero Deforestation in the Amazon. Greenpeace is besides buttonholing for world-wide solutions to forestalling deforestation every bit good as clime alteration. The rain forest is one of the oldest and most diverse ecosystems in the universe. Very few ecosystem biomes that were in being during the clip of the dinosaurs still exist today, but scientists say that the rain forests is one of them. This big country of clip has allowed animate beings and workss to germinate into an astonishing array of vegetations and zoologies of every colour, form, size, texture, and familial sequence. 25 per centum of prescription drugs used in the United States came from workss in the rain forest. Because the huge bulk of the Amazon rain forest has non been catalogued, the exact figure of species in the Amazon rain forest is unknown. The World Bank estimates that. 10 per centum of all the universe ‘s species live in the Brazilian Amazon and most of them are found merely in that country. Despite the attempts of our authoritiess and many environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, the devastation of the Brazils rain wood has continued and has all but slowed it down for old ages. There are many grounds that salvaging the Amazon is immensely of import for many grounds. First, in the United States entirely about 25 per centum of the pharmaceuticals come from the workss in the Amazon. The Amazon rain wood besides plays a major function in the forms of our conditions†¦ .globally. Last but non least, the Amazon rain wood is the place for 1000s of different sorts of workss, mammals, and birds. Destroying the Amazon means destructing the different signifiers of life that inhabit it. The legion menaces to the Amazon are can include commercial logging, urban growing, and international corporations. In the recent old ages, some advancement has been made in the battle to salvage the Amazon rain wood. In April 1998, a new enterprise established a protected country of 25 million hectares ( 62 million estates ) , with programs to increase this protected country in the hereafter. Brazil is a land of extraordinary beauty and uncomparable biological diverseness. Due to this ground, deforestation in the Amazon is peculiarly distressing. As the losingss to our environment and the debasement of the rain forests have avoided acquiring to the point of ruin, the on-going disappearing of wild lands and loss of species is dismaying. Biodiversity is what makes life on Earth habitable for all signifiers of life. By extinguishing hotbeds of biodiversity, such as the Amazon rain forest, we are non merely destructing a portion of the universe but besides a portion of our ego. Biodiversity can reconstruct itself to its natural province after deforestation Michigans, until this happens ; the go oning loss of accomplished species will do the Earth a rather crowded, but lonely topographic point. History has shown that to reconstruct the biodiversity to the point it was prior to extinction happening it has been believed to take every bit much as five million old ages. Our actions today can make up one's mind if Earth will be biologically corrupted for the following 500 trillion or more worlds that will populate on the Earth during that future period of clip. In 2008 Brazil made an proclamation that it was traveling to do an attempt to cut down deforestation in the Amazon by up to 50 per centum in the following 10 old ages, this has led them to be opposed to forest beginnings, doing the statement that it allows states higher in wealth to non pay emanations cuts One of the jobs is how to measure up a wood ‘s present and future stock in C. Whether or non these credits, known as C credits, would be interchangeable with credits from other countries such as a power reproduction works, poses another inquiry. An easier solution would be to hold states receive a payment based on the size of the woods that exist in their ain land. If these states were to go on damaging woods, they would be denied entree to these payments. Another important obstruction would be the inquiry is the distribution of the money received from the credits earned by the forest states. Even though who has the right to the land is frequently disputed, merely because the autochthonal people would frequently hold no legal paperss. One of the concerns are that if local occupants do non profit from this plan, that they will be less willing to take part in the saving their woods. Brazil has already started an option to countervail the harm to its woods: Protection of the Amazon is an international fund. Through 2015 Norway has pledged more than 1 billion dollars to this fund. Norway has agreed to go on to donate more money every twelvemonth, but under the lone status that Brazil can go on to demo deforestation has reduced in from the old twelvemonth. As a consequence destitute households in Brazil can use can have assistance to help them in the Restoration and protection of the woods they own in an sum of upward to 1,500 dollars per twelvemonth. Brazil ‘s Government reported that as of June 2009 it was on gait to hold the lowest rate of deforestation in 20 old ages. The events that are doing deforestation are go oning while you are reading these words and equal the devastation of Earth natural catastrophes, such as, â€Å"global ice ages, planetal hits, atmospheric toxic condition, and fluctuations in solar radiation.† The ground is that these events that result in deforestation are being caused by worlds and our determinations. We are the last line of defence every bit good as the best hope for life as we know it on our planet. The world that Brazil ‘s rain forest is vanishing is incontestible. Whether it is traveling in fast or decelerate velocity does non count at this point. We, as a humanity society need to help and protect the rain forests non merely because of their beauty, but for the ground that how of import it is for our planet this balance with nature. As I mentioned before, the job does non impact merely Brazil, it is a large issue whose effects will impact each populating thing on this Earth. Except if we take action right now, because tomorrow can be excessively late.Plants CitedBeltra, Daniel. Greenpeace. 01 June 2009. 29 November 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/slaughtering-the-amazon & gt ; . Butler, Rhett A. Mongabay – Amazon cowss ranching histories for half of Brazil ‘s CO2 emanations. 12 December 2009. 22 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //news.mongabay.com/2009/1211-brazil_ranching.html & gt ; . Butler, Rhett A. Mongabay. 22 April 2009. 12 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //news.mongabay.com/2009/0422-earth_day_pictures.html & gt ; . Montag, Helen. Coolearth. 01 January 2010 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.coolearth.org/337/news-32/rainforest-news-155/logging-activity-impacting-treasure-trove-indonesian-rainforests-1003.html & gt ; . Tulloch, James. Allianz. 31 August 2009. 12 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/climate_change/climate_impacts/deforestation_emissions/article586.html & gt ; . Vieira, ICG. Brazilian Journal of Biology. 30 November 2008. 13 November 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.scielo.br/scielo.php? script=sci_arttext & amp ; pid=S1519-69842008000500004 & A ; lng=e & A ; nrm=iso & A ; tlng=e & gt ; . Wallace, Scott. National Geographic. January 2007. 19 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon.html & gt ; . Butler, Rhett A. â€Å"Diversities of Image – Rainforest Biodiversity.† Mongabay.com / A Topographic point Out of Time: Tropical Rain forests and the Perils They Face. 9 January 2006. hypertext transfer protocol: //rainforests.mongabay.com/0305.htm. Dean, Warren. With Broadax and Firebrand: The Destruction of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. California: University of California Press, 1997. O'Connor, Geoffrey. Amazon Jornal. New York: Dutton, 1997. Siy, Alexandra. The Brazilian Rain Forest. New York: Dillon, 1992. Echeverria, Monica. Falling Amazon deforestation rates create chance for other damaged woods. 23 November 2009. 13 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPresitem14352.html & gt ; . Greenpeace. 01 June 2009. 13 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/slaughtering-the-amazon & gt ; . Lindsey, Rebecca. Earth Observatory: How Fire is transforming the Amazon. 8 June 2004. 16 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/AmazonFire/ & gt ; . Carnegie Institution. â€Å"Breakthrough in Monitoring Tropical Deforestation Announced in Copenhagen.† ScienceDaily 11 December 2009. 17 December 2009 & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sciencedaily.comA ­ /releases/2009/12/091210101359.htm & gt ; .

Arab Spring Complete Research Work

Syed Muhammad Jalal Ud Din Asad Shah SMC Ba 5 (Journalism) Course Instructor Ma’m Rida Sohail International Mass Media and its Impact Mid-term Assignment – Arab Spring 16/11/2012 Introduction The Arab Spring, referring to the chain reaction of revolutions in the Arab world, is considered to have begun in Tunisia when a small produce seller lit himself on fire to protest the government taking away his job.Some say that this event, coupled with enough pressure from outside media sources, sparked the revolution of the younger generation in Tunisia that overthrew their prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi; others argue that the area was ripe for revolution thanks to the infusion of democracy in Iraq. Regardless of the initial cause, this single countries act started a snowball effect of democratic revolution that has rolled its way through Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Lybia, in a few smaller instances in other countries. Detailed Summary of â€Å"Arab Spring†On 17th December 2010 something occurred in the small Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid that should lead to a so-called â€Å"revolution†. On that day, a desperate Tunisian teenager, who tried to support the livelihood of his family with his vegetable stand there, lit himself. Again and again he was bullied and also harassed by the behaviour and conditions of the Tunisian police in this village. His self-immolation happened one year ago and he died of his injuries. This sad act sparked major protests by angry and frustrated young people in Egypt.Some followed Muhammad Buazizi example and also committed suicide after his sad death. The first so-called revolution in the Arab world has been triggered. Whether this â€Å"revolution† has been really triggered all alone from within Egypt by this sad act should be questioned. It wasn’t the first demonstration against the rise of food prices, but those protests were not able to overthrow the dictator. This changed with these protests in spr ing 2011. One should consider that these developments around these demonstrations have been driven from the outside, too.For example, the name of Former U. S. diplomat Jeffrey Feltman appears repeatedly in connection with these so-called revolutions in the Middle East. The events in Tunisia spilled over to other states and for example, the Tunisian dictator quickly left his homeland to find asylum in Saudi Arabia. Some say a bit too quickly. Even before the wave of â€Å"revolutions† (â€Å"Arab Spring†) reached Egypt, this interesting wave reached the both states Morocco and Algeria. Again, the people took to the streets in protest against rising food prices and against the corruption within the country.Of course, the people in Algeria and Morocco also protested against the injustice. Finally, the demonstrations in Egypt began on 25th of January. These protests in Egypt were primarily socially motivated demonstrations, in which the people wanted to give vent to their anger. Triggered by the financial crisis (U. S. is mainly to blame for this) the food prices and housing prices also increased in the Arab countries. Where the foreign/western countries did not intervene, the demonstrations disappeared again. Take a look at Algeria.It seems that nowadays hardly anyone reminds about Algeria that there people also protested against the government and that these demonstrations were brutally dispersed or even mowed down. It seems that the Western governments decided secretly that an Algeria under the lead of Bouteflika is safer for Europe than an Algeria, which is ruled by Islamists. Some experts of the Middle East talk about the beginning of these demonstrations and revolutions about an â€Å"Islamic revolution† (even Islamistic revolution) which is masterful ignored by the West till today.The West even ignores these statements about an â€Å"Islamic revolution† gladly. However, the results of the first elections in Tunisia and Egypt spea k for themselves: In both countries the Islamists have gained extremely more power and influence. Not surprising at all. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt supported and still supports the protests against the power of the Egyptian military. It sometimes seems that the Muslim Brotherhood also forces chaos within these protests because it might be useful for their goals.Not to mention that the Muslim Brotherhood offered people money to vote for them at these elections in Egypt. A wonderful example of the democratic sense within the Muslim Brotherhood. Sure a lot of people are able to recall the 11th February. The Egyptian dictator Mubarak resigned at this day and handed â€Å"all† the power to the Western-backed military. At the moment, the Egyptian military clings to the power in Egypt and the Egyptians are not able to reach a break to rest after their â€Å"revolution†. But this revolution in Egypt was not the last revolution of this â€Å"Arab Spring† in 2011.The Yemenis were encouraged by the events in North African countries and started to take to the streets, also to demonstrate against their Yemeni government. Shortly before this outbreak of â€Å"revolution† in Yemen, the people were again humbled by the corrupt government and the proposed constitutional amendment, which would keep the Yemeni leader Saleh for some more years in office. The frustration of the Yemenis erupted finally. As far as we know, the Yemenis always have demonstrated in a peaceful manner against the government and military.The bloodshed started as the clan of Sheikh Ahmar began to act against the Yemeni government to enforce the interests of the clan and this Sheikh. After a longer period of a back and forth and a long stay in Saudi Arabia, Saleh finally agreed to the proposal of the Gulf Cooperation Council and left his post in Yemen. Nobody exactly knows the future of Yemen. What is only certain to say is that the near future won`t be easy for the country and that you are actually able to call Yemen a failed State. Yemen always was a â€Å"forgotten† country and the situation within the country is really getting worse.The Libyan revolution should not necessarily carry this title of a â€Å"revolution†. Viewing at Libya it is indeed clear that foreign countries supported those â€Å"rebels† to overthrow the ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Not to mention the clear statements about the events in Libya by independent journalists like Lizzie Phelan and others. Although both Western countries, France and Italy, extolled the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi until early 2011 and both governments did everything in motion in order to impress the leader in oversee, it was above all France, which quickly forgot about the alliance and any agreements.It seems that the huge fear of an independent and more powerful Africa and a Libya with major projects was behind the intentions of the Europeans and the Americans. Some would al so say that this was behind the intentions of the West to destroy the structure and plans of this country. Not to mention the huge amount of important mineral resources, of course. The armed rioters were celebrated as rebels and supplied with arms and money by the West / NATO. First they helped to pass the Libyan city of Benghazi as a liberated ity to the rebels and afterwards they started a war, based on lies, to determine the fate of the finally murdered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. After Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination and the capture of his son, Saif al-Islam, it suddenly became very silent about the situation in Libya. It seems that they want to prevent, that the Western population learns something about this false revolution in Libya and above all, they want to create time to bury all corpses of innocent. So that there won`t turn up any unpleasant questions. The truth is sometimes very brutal. Libya is now exploited and finally ruled by al-Qaeda and CIA related people .Also people in Bahrain were at the beginning of this year encouraged by the events in other Arab countries and they went on the streets to protest. The majority Shiite population wanted to achieve more equal rights and above all, that the Bahraini opposition will lose their status as mute puppets in the government. In Bahrain, it was a brutal crackdown of the â€Å"peaceful demonstrations† by the government. And all words, which U. S. President Barrack Obama had about these violence by a regime, was a gentle criticism that the Bahraini ruling family should not act brutally against demonstrators. But this was not enough.The Bahraini ruling family asked for help with the crackdown of protesters and the friendly Saudis delivered tanks and their soldiers to â€Å"bring down† the demonstrations in the neighbouring state. After all, no one really outraged about that and no one spoke about a â€Å"humanitarian intervention† in Bahrain or even in Saudi Arabia. It`s a h ypocritically world, isn`t it? The reporting on the brutal events in Bahrain has been suddenly discontinued. They remained silent. The West and others did not want to risk, that the Bahraini ruling house loses its power. After all, the United States of America own an important military base in Bahrain.Furthermore, they couldn`t risk, that the Shiites in Bahrain are really successful in receiving more power and also co-determination in the country, because this would mean that the Iranian influence is increasing in Bahrain. Nothing, what the West really wants. If there will be a resume about the so-called Arab Spring in these days, it seems that nobody is going to mention Bahrain just as Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait The Saudi king tried to bribe his people with money, to buy it finally. But this strategy has not worked especially in the east of Saudi Arabia, on the border to Bahrain, where many Shiites live.Especially in this region a lot of Shiite people were constantly on the s treets to show their protest. By a new fatwa, which declared such demonstrations against the ruling family in Saudi Arabia as un-Islamic, this known ruling family has created an almost free rein in the suppression of the demonstrations. Of course, such a fatwa is used to ban protests against the ruling family in Saudi Arabia and to justify crackdowns of protests. Also such a fatwa does not seem to be very Islamic finally, but that’s nothing new in Saudi Arabia. The fool’s freedom for the Saudi ruling house is intensified by the looking away of the West.Who wants to lose Saudi Arabia as a partner in these days? After all, there are still many sources of oil which can be exploited. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is a good partner of the West in the fight against Iran – though this country is not necessarily a true friend and ally of the West. Saudi Arabia has a very strong interest to keep the power of Iran limited and to take care with every option that the power of I ran doesn`t increase. After all, it is often about the supremacy of Sunnis and Shiites in the Arab-Islamic world. Saudi Arabia isn’t interested in losing its (religious? power/influence to Iran. At the beginning of this year 2011 there were also demonstrations and violent clashes between protesters and the police in Jordan. The people protested for a new government. The Jordanian prime minister was replaced. The frustration of the Jordanian people is still palpable and there, but you do not hear anything any longer about Jordan. They do not want to take the risk to overthrow a Sunni ruler – especially not in a country where the majority of the population is actually Palestinian. It would not be foreseeable, which reaction would be triggered.So while the West deliberately keeps silent about some regions, they are running on full speed when it’s about other countries which are not the â€Å"favourite children† of the United States, other countries and organ izations. One of the best examples is Syria. In Syria, the demonstrations began relatively late and were fuelled from outside. Not to mention the financially and other support for the Syrian opposition groups within and abroad by the United States – this support started already by the Bush administration and is still continued under the administration of Peace Nobel Prize-†owner† Barrack Obama.The demonstrations in Syria began peaceful, although foreigners were smuggled into the country to force violent situations within those protests. The peaceful protests were soon stopped because of this. The arming of several bunches of extremists, Islamists and criminals did the rest. The weapons were smuggled in quantities beyond the borders of the country – even before these demonstrations in Syria have started. A not to be underestimated role in the so-called â€Å"uprisings† in Syria may have played the comeback of an U. S. ambassador to the U. S. embassy ( Damascus) in February this year.Of course, this comeback of a questionable U. S. ambassador to Syria was also helpful with the policy against Syria This â€Å"Syrian unrest† is happening since nine months – although it is said that there is a horrible crackdown of protesters by the Syrian army and security forces. Not to mention that a real â€Å"unrest† looks different to the real events within Syria. But in favour of Western policy it is sure useful to sell these events in Syria to the Western population as a â€Å"peaceful unrest† of â€Å"peaceful demonstrators†, who just want freedom and democracy.The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be overthrown, without any foreseeing of the consequences. It is easy to see these attempts of overthrow the Syrian government and President in connection with the â€Å"Foreign Policy† of America, Israel and probably (mainly? ) AIPAC. It is written on the flags of America to protect Israel, which th e U. S. President Barrack Obama again made clear in the last days. Because of this and the powerful AIPAC lobby within the USA, they have on their agenda to destroy the so-called â€Å"Axis of Evil† – despite the probably consequences.An upcoming President of the United States needs a huge financially base to become president and he also needs the support of such Lobbies and positive opinions about his attitude to Israel. Real independence is sure something different. If you destabilize Syria, an important supply line between Iran and Hezbollah is interrupted. But the West has made up its plan without Syria, which still holds well against all sanctions, propaganda and lies of Western countries, organizations as the NATO and questionable media. But it is in the stars how long Syria will survive this.What is sold as â€Å"Arab Spring† is absolutely a huge lie. A lie, what is becoming increasingly obvious, especially after the Islamists won the non-independent & qu estionable elections in Egypt and Tunisia. A lie, which has the end, that the bloody crackdown on Shiite protesters in Bahrain and the situation and events in countries such as Jordan and Algeria are simply not included in the so-called retrospective analysis. A hypocritically sale of the so-called â€Å"Arab Spring† – a recapitulation, which is more than blind in one eye. A lie by which a war was fought in Libya (and there are still clashes, of course).With tens of thousands of casualties – with a big thanks to NATO and Western interests. Whether one can still speak of a â€Å"spring† is more than questionable. The Arab states became puppets of the West, even more than already in the past. The West has tried to use his influence and how this failed â€Å"Arab spring† will going to end will be sure turn out in future. The West still missed to reach all goals yet, because the government in Syria is still not collapsed and the majority of the Syrian population supports the President Bashar al-Assad and the promised reform process.Also the Iran is far too powerful to attack it, without fearing huge consequences. There still other Arab states where dictators are in power. The West just seems to be blind or is this behaviour a confirmation of the imperialistic lies and propaganda? If you want to sell the so-called â€Å"Arab spring† as a real pro-democracy movement of the Arab youth, then you should not keep simultaneously the dictators of the Gulf States, Jordan, Algeria and Morocco in office and power. The Arab Spring is a farce, which has plunged many countries into chaos.These countries will have to fight with the consequences for the next decades. The problems, why the Arab youth mainly protested on the streets, are still there – everywhere. The acts to solve these problems of the Arab youth and societies are not even started yet if you consider Iraq, which is served as an example of democracy in this region; yo u quickly recognize that this supposed democratic government is much more corrupt than the former dictator. How the Arab population and primarily the Arab youth are going to handle this is unclear.Maybe more â€Å"Arab springs†, maybe more victims and wars. Probably. One is clear – the Arab neighbours have been weakened and this is one of the main goals of Western interests, Imperialism and also of Zionism. It is said a picture explains better than 1000 words, but when picture muddle up with words then the following appears The Nature of the Arab Spring The Arab Spring is the name that has been given to the recent wave of protests and political unrest in the Arab region of the world.This phenomenon began with the Jasmine revolution in December 2010 that overthrew the authoritative Tunisian government and has spread to neighbouring countries including Egypt, Syria and Libya. The Arab Spring has exhibited a common demand for democracy and civil rights from the nations in volved and has already lead to revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and has caused political changes across many other Arab Countries. Shifting political attitudes and values regarding democracy amongst the Arabs can be seen in the following graphNote the Democracy preference and Reject strong Leader in the Middle-East column. This survey was taken a year before the Arab Spring. The data it shows predicts remarkably well the opinion of the Arab people and was a sign of things to come. The findings have undoubtedly been correlated with the events of 2011. What is ironic is the high preference for democracy in Middle East compared with Eurasia and the fact that Middle East & North Africa region had the lowest democracy index rating (3. 43, 2010) according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (2010).This highlights another great disparity between the desire of the people and the reality. Arab Spring and the youth It's often said revolutions eat their young, but rarely has it been such a feast. On the streets of Tunis and across the Middle East, the young revolutionaries have been taken aback. A movement that spread on Face book, Twitter and YouTube is today being run by a generation that lived without computers most of their lives. Now, if the Arab Spring fails to incorporate the younger generation, it could meet the fate that so many revolutions do – leaving out those who first sparked change TunisiaThe democratic process in Tunisia is very encouraging. Regime change took place almost with no victims compared with Egypt, Libya and Syria. The elections brought to government a moderate, enlightened Muslim party, which raised the fears of secularists but is trying by all means to assure its opponents that it is open to sharing power, accepting peaceful transition of power through the election polls and building a civil state. Morocco and Algeria The king of Morocco went far beyond that of Jordan. He does not have to deal with similar delicate internal elements .As a matter of fact, he started a process of internal conciliation several years ago, and trying to preempt a revolution in his country, he allowed a reformed constitution to be legislated in May 2010, and free democratic elections on Nov. 25 of that year. The Islamic movement won the majority as expected, but the change is taking place peacefully though seriously. The change will have an impact on Morocco’s relations with its neighboring Arab countries. A positive improvement in relations with Algeria is developing.If this continues, it will allow for opening the borders between the two countries, which have been closed for 17 years. The Arab Spring is changing the way of thinking among the new regimes. The political climate between Morocco and Algeria will have an impact on resolving the dispute over the Western Sahara. This may allow for the resurrection of the Maghreb Union, which was created in 1989 but crippled as a result of deteriorating relations between Algeria and Morocco. Elections are scheduled in Algeria for 2012, and the regime promises free and democratic elections.If this happens, and it most probably will, it will add a new dimension to the reform movement in North Africa. Syria The Syrian version over the protests is similar to that of the rest of the world in that the larger, general class of the country, in this case the Sunni Muslims, are protesting the rule of the elite sect, the Alawites in Syria – including the current President Bashar al-Assad, due to the apparent disparity between classes. The protests began in mid-March but have escalated as Assad backed down for original promises of peace-talks and reform and has begun to oppose the protests with force.The situation has since escalated as military members, once members of the elite sect, have begun to defect to the protestor's side, putting the country on the brink of civil war. These latest developments in Syria and the rest of the Arab Spring are important because they prove that international accountability can, in fact, produce large-scale change in a country. When enough people or media outlets that carry enough weight get behind even a single person that is willing to stand up to the injustice, enough momentum can be generated to cause institutional change.The average American must care because we are a part of that momentum. If the average citizen lacks care, the media lacks support over certain topics, and international accountability and pressure loses its power. The Arab Spring reminds us that individual people with the courage to generate change have power if a watching world is willing to respond. By staying up to date and active in the discussion of these events, the average American too can have a part in great change for millions around the world. Egypt What where the students’ goals? The Egyptian revolution began on the 25th of January.Tens of thousands of marchers occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against Preside nt Hosni Mubarak and his government. Egyptians had been growing angrier over a number of issues including government corruption, rising prices, poverty, and social seclusion. The major point leading to the revolution was the overthrowing of the Tunisian government by fellow Arabs. As the demonstrations in Egypt grew more violent, protestors rallied behind a common goal, the complete overthrow of the President Hosni and his government. How did they communicate? The protestors consisted mostly of young â€Å"tech-savvy† Egyptians.On January 28, in an attempt to prevent the protestors from communicating, the Egyptian government shut down internet access and some mobile phone services were shut down in certain areas. This only fuelled public anger with the government demonstrators begin using non-wireless dependent devices to communicate. Through fax machines, land lines, and radio broadcasts, the protestors have been able to still coordinate their movements and get information o ut of the country. What were their activities? Isolated pockets of protest erupted into country wide demonstration on January 28 as thousands protested the government in Tahrir Square.They were met with repressive opposition by police forces (Asser). The government responded to the protests by shutting down all internet providers in order to cut off communication among the protestors. This only fuelled public anger. Protestors turned to land lines connections, fax machines and in some cases dial up connections through foreign nations such as Sweden and France to spread information (Daily Mail Reporter). Quickly, police forces melted away and the army was called in to keep the peace. On February 1st the demonstrations in Tahrir Square had terminated into the â€Å"March of The Million. Looting soon became rampant through the streets and neighbourhoods set up armed night watch groups to protect their homes. The protestors had been relatively non-violent, but on February 2 pro-governm ent demonstrators marched in Tahrir Square to meet the anti-government forces. The Scene soon erupted into violence as both sides began throwing stones and petrol bombs. Since then, the anti-government Forces erected barricades around Tahrir Square and voiced their refusal to leave until President Hosni Mubarak finally stepped down from power (Asser). Were they successful? The Protestors were successful.Under mounting pressures, President Hosni Mubarak resigned from presidency, finally ending his nearly 30 year rule. Power was then given over to the military which began drafting a new government and constitution. What has happened most recently? Since the resignation of President Mubarak, power has been given to the military which has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution. The military said that it would give up control after a parliamentary election in the fall and a referendum was released in March for the public to vote and ratify amendments to a new constitution.Si nce then however, the military has-been blamed for slowing the pace of democratizing the nation and remaining loyal to the core of President Mubarak’s government, leading to fresh protests in the recent months. In august, Hosni Mubarak was brought into court to be tried for the deaths of those who died in the protests. In October, the military released a statement saying that an election would be held for parliament in November followed by a separate election for president. The military also announced they would now retain power even after the elections in order to see the transfer to democracy through.The Parliament will play a subordinate role to the military council for the time being until the new government is fully established and a new constitution is ratified, a process which might last until 2013. At the moment the future of Egypt has promising potential, but is still unclear. What would I have done? I would have joined the protestors in the streets. I love that I li ve in a democracy and if I lived in country like Egypt that limited my rights, I know I would jump at a chance to change things.However, if I heard that looters were out, I think would go home and help be part of a neighbourhood watch to protect my friends and family because I feel that they should come first before government. Libya What were the goals of the students? The major protest credited with starting the revolution was a demonstration held in the city of Benghazi. The protestors were angry over the imprisonment of a human rights activist named Fethi Tarbel. Tarbel openly spoke out against the government, especially in regards to the 1996massacre at Abu Salim prison where more than a 1,000 prisoners were executed.The protestors were met by police forces that used water cannons to break up the crowds and eye witnesses reported that police were driving their cars at high speeds into the crowds. The situation quickly erupted into an anti-Gaddafi protest that spread to neighbou ring towns. Public anger over the nation’s rampant unemployment, poverty, civil rights violations, and lack of free speech fuelled the protests which demanded an end to Gaddafi and his regime. How did they communicate? Revolutionaries had to be careful about communicating online because the government was monitoring sites like face book, twitter and other social networking sites.Some groups adapted and began using Mawada, one of the biggest dating sites in the Middle East, to secretly recruit new members and communicate. They would pose as couples on Mawada and swap coded messages to each other disguised as poetry and love letters. For the most part however, Libyans did not embrace the internet for communication as Egypt and Tunisia did in their revolutions. According to Nasser Wedaddy, a civil rights outreach director for the American Islamic Congress, Libyans were very afraid of the government monitoring the internet.What got information spread around was actually people ou tside of Libya who, free from Libyan jurisdiction, were able to take what photos and videos were uploaded and spread them around the media, creating much of the support for the anti government forces. What were their activities? The protests that began in Benghazi evolved into a revolution and soon rebel forces consisting of civilian recruits and army personal that had defected made the city of Benghazi their base and quickly forced all security forces out of the city.Riots spread to neighbouring cities and rebel forces burned down police stations and seized local radio stations to spread propaganda against the government. Pro Gaddafi forces moved to open war with rebel forces, engaging in ground assaults and bombing raids. Anti-government rebels were forced to retreat from the better armed pro-Gaddafi forces. Due to attacks on civilian targets, the western nations of the world gave their support to the rebel cause and began launching air raids on government strong holds and militar y groups.With military advice and equipment provided by NATO forces, the rebels began slowly advancing on the capital of Tripoli and held the city of Misrata in western Libya which was under heavy siege. After months of little progress, the rebels pushed forward with a new offensive and captured Tripoli. The rebels established the National Transitional Council which was recognized as the new legitimate government of Libya. Rebel forces went on to capture the rest of the loyalist held cities which finally resulted in the death of Gaddafi. Were they successful?The rebel forces were successful. In their last major offensive, which took place from August 13to October 20, they captured the capital city of Tripoli and all other cities still held by loyalist forces and on the 20th of October Gaddafi was finally killed in a rebel attack on his strong hold Role of Women As the world hurries to analyze and understand the events of the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, numerous factors will be considered, most of them highly relevant and perhaps with more of a demonstrable effect on events than the levels of female subordination.It is for this very reason that it is necessary to conduct research into the effects of female subordination. There has been talk of women’s rights in the context of the uprisings of the different Middle Eastern and North African countries, but there needs to be real, in depth analysis of the relationship between the treatment of women and the changes occurring in societies as a whole. In analysis of the events that occurred in 2011, I expect there will be much made of the nature of the previous regime, the personal styles of each of the dictators, and the economic situations of the countries, including the role of resources.I strongly believe that the factors, as well as the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, the threat of terrorism and the presence of oil, are factors that affect women acutely and intensely, and that we can learn more abo ut these different factors by examining them through the lens of the treatment of women. While it is difficult to establish whether it is a case of causation or not, there is a strong correlation between the treatment of women and the repression of society as a whole. Studying the way women are affected in these situations will provide further insight into societies and prospects for the future.I have proposed analysis of specific events with the aim of developing this line of analysis further. I propose examining the relationship between the subordination of women and the level of protest experienced in varying countries knowing that it is possible that it the relationship I have predicted may not be accurate, but secure in the knowledge that it will lead to a better understanding of the factors shaping the situation in the Muslim world and potential developments in the future.It is my hope that this research would contribute not only to the study of women’s rights and the i mportance of gender equality, but also to the field of democratization studies as we observe countries that uphold the rights of women making successful, peaceful transitions to consolidated democracy. The â€Å"Social media revolutions† We have seen so far what the most important phenomena on the Arab Internet were in the years before the revolutions. But when it comes to gathering people, fast-paced communication, and – ultimately – performing a revolution, both blogs and forums are fundamentally flawed.Here comes the unique role of modern â€Å"actual† social media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. , with their widespread and mass usage, free access and equal rights. Through social networking sites, a single message – regardless if it is a manifesto, the date, time and place for a gathering or a video showing defenceless citizens killed by the army – can reach thousands of people within minutes, each and every one of them being abl e to express their opinion on the matter, gives a suggestion or share an idea, everybody being able to become an activist and organizer.As far as it is possible – because they are in many cases very intertwined – I'll try to examine separately the role played by the different channels of the social media online ecosystem. Facebook Facebook is, probably, the biggest site on the Internet now – it is almost as frequently visited as Google’s search engine page; as of September 2011, it is confirmed to have as many as 800million accounts (which is more the 1/10 of the entire human population).Naturally, it is the most popular social networking platform in the Middle East and North Africa as well for example, Egypt alone has more than 7 million Facebook subscribers; in Tunisia they form a rough 1/5 of the population of the country, and that ratio is typical for most of the countries, with the exception of Libya, where there are only around 50,000 accounts (this fact can be attributed to the heavy censorship and restrictions by the country's previous regime).This figures are the main reason why Facebook was the most important communication tool in most of the Arab spring revolutions; even though it is impossible to say that the access to the social network per se has become the reason for the revolution, it is completely impossible to tell the story of events preceding and following the iconic January 25th 2011 without accepting the crucial role that Facebook played in them. The driving force of these events is much older, and it was encoded in the very nature of the Egyptian pre-revolution regime and social structure of the country.However, it is safe to say that the revolution itself was sparkled in, and with some reservations, by Facebook. That revolution revolves two â€Å"pages†, one created in protest to the murder of Khalid Said, tortured and killed by Egyptian police for posting materials exposing corrupt officials – â€Å"We are all Khalid Said†, which is English-speaking and for that reason has drawn to itself not only Arabs, but many western supporters of the Egyptian cause, and â€Å"The April 6 youth movement†, which is in Arabic; the second is far older and originally emerged around a protest action in 2008, but kept its popularity.Combined, at the time of the protest, the two major groups consisted of more than half a million people, which grew literally in a few days after they were founded. Basically, there were no events that directly preceded the protest of the 25th; there was just an idea for a peaceful demonstration that circulated through the community pages; the rally itself was simply the act of moving the anti-government protest from the online world to the physical one.That was the very role played by Facebook – it was where the protest brewed, and when it was ready to move on the streets, it managed to gather some 50,000 people on the very first day, due t o the good organization and widespread information on the social network.The follow-up of that event did not differ from any other people's uprising – more and more attended every next protest, clashes with the police and the army occurred, and, ultimately, the Mubarak government was overthrown. The important and new parts here are the methods of organization and spreading of information, which amplified and facilitated the process of overthrowing the regime.Egypt is the most clear example of the use of Facebook during the Arab Spring, it being the place where the ideas and organization grew; in Tunisia, for example, as the first country to start the chain of revolutions, no such simple and differentiated organization existed; of greater importance there was the online presence of the members of an informal group called â€Å"Takriz†, who have been doing their activist work online for the past 10 years, and just embraced Facebook as a new operational space, very useful when it comes to rapidly sharing information and reaching a broad audience.Members of this group even admit that the organizations of football club supporters were equally important to Facebook groups and â€Å"Facebook activism†. The crucial importance of Facebook is very well expressed in the words of one of the members of Takriz: â€Å"Facebook is pretty much the GPS for this revolution. Without the street there's no revolution, but add Facebook to the street and you get real potential. For that reason, when the drastic event which could be used as a pretext for mass protest activity happened – in this case, the self-inflammation of Muhammad Bouazizi – the organization was already laid, the contacts were already built and the signal for the protest was given, they grew extremely fast. Here, if not on the same scale, it served exactly the same role it did in Egypt – a public sphere in which to discuss new ideas and find followers, n organizational net work to coordinate common actions, as well as a source of inspiration, proof that the activist is not alone in his quest. In the Middle Eastern countries in which anti-government protests are now ongoing organization through Facebook is not such a common phenomenon: the only example is Syria, where the biggest protest group (in Arabic) has no less than 320. 000 members, and it is updated hourly with information, pictures and videos from the protests.In Bahrain and Yemen the groups are negligibly small and not much visited; in these cases the fact must be kept in mind that the revolutions here are more isolated and involve much less people than those in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria, and the use of Facebook is not so widespread, so the need for an online public sphere is not so acute. Twitter Twitter is a completely different social network; where Facebook has complexity and many different ways to communicate and organize, Twitter has only one – simplified messages shared with the entire world, no preferences given.While Facebook can hold an entire manifesto, Twitter is limited by its 140 characters for a single message (called â€Å"tweet†); it has no pictures or video service by its own but is forced to use third-party applications to achieve that functionality. For these reasons, even though it is the second biggest social network in the world, it has only a fraction of Facebook’s user count. The Arab countries make no exception: there are only 5 million Twitter users, and almost half of them are from the UAE that is the primary reason why it was never used as a primary tool for organizing protests or gathering supporters â€Å"in the field†.Yet, Twitter played an equally important role in the uprisings. Due to its simplicity, this network is extremely well-suited to use through smart phones and mobile devices; usually the content of user profiles is updated on hourly, if not minutely basis. For that reason, while Facebook was used in the long-term planning and announcements, Twitter was the â€Å"in-the-field† tool, which allowed fine coordination between the protesters. Furthermore, an even more important role played by Twitter was bringing information on the protests outside the countries where the uprisings took place.One of the first things the regimes did when the revolutions started was to suppress all possible media channels and prevent the proper covering of the events. For example, the reporters and crew of Al-Jazeera, which is deemed to be the biggest, and actually one of the few truly independent broadcasting media in the Arab World, were forbidden to enter the country the moment when the unrests started, and for that reason the television had to rely entirely on a network of â€Å"credible and reliable† people, who had previously assisted the media, tweeting and updating information from the scene of events on minutely basis.Thus, these â€Å"twitters† turned out to be the key so urce of information for the covering of the protests and the development of the events; in Tunisia, for example, reporters of many media were allowed free passage only after president Bin Ali stepped down. Finally, Twitter was also the place where all the supporters of the Arab Spring uprisings throughout the world were exchanging news, opinions and analyses; #Egypt (with reached over a 1 ? million mentions only in the first three months of 2011) was the most used hash tag for 2011, which denotes the events in Egypt as the most discussed topic worldwide.So, Twitter was also the place where the news was spread, and keeps being spread even today. It also served as platform of the liberation campaigns, which were previously carried mainly by blogs – a fresh example comes from October 2011 when Twitter was the main space where the campaign â€Å"Alaa took place†; it called for the liberation of an Egyptian blogger who was â€Å"held for questioning† by the temporary military rule for more than two weeks, but at the end was released under popular pressure. YouTubeThere is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words; if that is true, then a video is worth a thousand pictures. There is a reason why YouTube's own search engine is second only to Google’s in terms of daily searches, and videos can sometimes reach over a few million views in a few days – the so-called â€Å"viral video† phenomenon. Video materials from the period before and during the Arab Spring period make no exception to this rule: they accumulated a lot of attention. Technically, we can separate the videos from the period into two different categories.One is what I would call â€Å"propagandist† videos: usually very graphic videos, depicting actions of the regimes, like torture, murder of civilians, bribery etc. , which were distributed and uploaded by activists aiming to raise awareness of both the Arab public and the world audience about these issues ; an iconic example here is the story of Khalid Said himself ,who was dragged out by the authorities from an Internet cafe, while he was uploading a video showing a government official taking bribe.Often, such videos were driving force powerful enough to organize mass protests, unite and focus the will of the crowds – a good example of that is Syria, where, in the end of May, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing â€Å"The corpse of a 13-year-old boy who appears to have been sexually and physically tortured by Syrian security officials†. On the very next day, mass protests of women and children broke out in the entire country, ultimately leading to a counterattack by the Syrian army, which took 15victims, and thus escalating the conflict.A similar example comes from Tunisia: a video from the days following the beginning of the revolution, showing â€Å"Kasserine's hospital in chaos, desperate attempts to treat the injured, and a horrifying image of a dead you ng man with his brains spilling out, filmed by a medical student working in the hospital. The footage was so graphic that according to a member of Takriz â€Å"That video made the second half of the revolution† Rallying large number of people shocked both by the state of the patients and care offered in the state hospital and the brutality of the government attempts to suppress the protests.The popular videos from Egypt represent the other case, or what I call â€Å"journalistic â€Å"videos: footage from the protest itself, used as a channel of spreading information about the uprisings outside Egypt itself, which have gained relatively big popularity on YouTube; for example, a hobbyist video of the first day of protest has been watched over 600. 000 times, and even simple political analyses of the current situation made inside the country have reached over 300. 000 views.Such videos were also the main source of footage for many media, since those were prohibited from enter ing the â€Å"hot zones† or the countries whatsoever and taking any recordings of the events. That also worked the other way around – YouTube was the only way protesters could access the news coverage and analyses made by various media, which were otherwise banned in their countries, for example Al-Jazeera or BBC Miscellaneous The three websites discussed above are the channels with the biggest significance for the Arab Spring; it is impossible to enumerate all the various sites and connections used during the revolutions.Photographers, both media-employed and hobbyists, shared photos on sites like Flickr and 500px; discussions were carried out on boards like 4chan, and personal communication was carried out via peer-to-peer online services like Skype etc. Conclusion for Social Media While reviewing the role of social media in the Arab Spring, one fact is obvious – it is an over-exaggeration to state that â€Å"the media is the massage†. Regardless of the amplifying effect that social media gave to all that took place, the events were invariably based on a real-world fact which reverberated in the virtual space.Still, there are at least three main functions which social media performed during the Arab revolutions 1. ) Public sphere – it was the place where ideas were discussed, information was spread and through which public awareness was raised in the first place 2. ) Organizational space – it was where the uprisings were planned and an invaluable organizational tool during the protests; 3. ) Information source – it was the only way information could â€Å"leave† the countries and reach the world publicity and conventional media.The significance of social media consolidated by the fear with which they were treated by the pre-revolution regimes. Each of them, at some point, tried to sever the access to such sites, ultimately blocking the entire Internet access or even stopping cell phone service (in the c ase of Egypt). The regimes were afraid of a medium which they could not control, and, in the end, their fear turned out to be well-grounded: the dictators were ousted by the wrath of their peoples, â€Å"amplified through Facebook†.My personal opinion is that the Arab Spring is not going to be the last â€Å"Social network revolution†. There is a good reason why the leading figure of the unrests now taking place in Russia after the parliamentary elections, Alexei Navalny, is a well-known oppositional blogger, and the organization of the protest took place in Facebook; so did that of the currently popular â€Å"Occupy†¦ † movements happening all over the world. Who knows where the opposition is brewing the next uprising in their twitter personal messages†¦ The Ultimate Conclusion The Arab Spring was not a surprise.The surprise was why it took so long to come. Many reasons came together to produce these drastic developments: the refusal of the regimes to accept the principle of the transition of power through elections and their insistence on a monopoly on power, as well as corruption, poverty, unemployment and the marginalization of youth and ethnic groups. The young generation, which represents 70% of the population, was the common element in leading the revolutions in these countries, whereas the aged ruling leaders of these countries belonged to only 7% of the population.And finally, the collective awareness, as witnessed in Tunisia when a young man protested by setting himself on fire and when a youngster died in a police station in Egypt brought masses to the streets. Arab dictatorships ruled with an iron fist and disgraced their own people to the extent that their arrogance went far enough for them to believe that they could pass their reign by inheritance to their sons. Their countries’ resources were exploited as their own and were shared between their family members, relatives and friends, while their people were l eft in poverty and underdevelopment.The U. S. and Europe knew the reality of these regimes, but for their own interests cooperated with them and turned their eyes from their severe violations of human rights and democratic values. The Arab Spring cannot be compared with the European Spring in Eastern European countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eastern Europe’s culture, mentality and proximity to Western European countries enabled a smooth change and transition there, while these elements do not exist in the rebelling Arab countries.We all know the results: Arab dictators in Yemen, Libya and Syria declared, â€Å"It’s either me or to hell with them† and launched a war against their own people. The war in Syria is still on; no one can predict its results, but one thing we can be sure of: The people broke the barrier of fear and came out in a massive protest that will not be turned back. Masses went out to the streets and public squares in a peaceful protest and civil disobedience. But the rulers confronted it with excessive power and violence, which led to a violent reaction from protestors, pushing some of them to seek foreign intervention.No one can predict where these revolutions are heading. They all are speaking about democracy, free elections, dignity, justice, human values, etc. But translating this into reality is another issue. So far, Libya, Yemen and Egypt have proven that this will not be an easy task. The U. S. and Western European countries fear a real change in the rebelling Arab countries which may threaten their interests and concerns, and are trying to contain these revolutions.The fact that these Arab countries control the world’s largest oil reserve, located in a central strategic junction between the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and that any change may threaten the future existence of Israel can explain this. Many fears are expressed now by Arab intellectual circles about the fate of these revolutions which raised so many hopes in the beginning but soon faded as result of bloodshed, destruction and failure to make the transition to democracy smoothly and within a reasonable amount of time. The Arab Spring may not blossom soon.Good governance, transparency, democracy and rule of law have not been realized yet. Hatred and suspicion of the intentions of Western countries is growing. Conspiracy theories have become a fashion. Past experiences with the West and its relations with the former regimes are not forgotten but instead strengthens the fears that what’s going on is a new return of colonialism with new faces and new regimes. The Arab people have tried Western methods and values, and their bitter memories about their past cooperation with the former regimes are still fresh. The U.S. , the supposed leader of democracy, is losing its credibility due its double standard policy— calling for democracy and human rights for one people and denying it to another, by supporting the Israeli occupation and denying the Palestinians’ right to statehood. The recent position in the Security Council against Palestine’s membership in the UN is used as strong evidence of the U. S. ’ biased position against the Palestinians. The Arab revolutions are inspiring revolutions worldwide — even against the corruption and failure of the Western economic system.The double standard policy of the West, together with the failure of the Western system, discourages Arabs from adopting Western values, and has made them focus on the necessity of change. This change, for many people, could be achieved only by adopting the modern pragmatic Islamic approach. The Islamists seem to be the future. Whatever the U. S. or Europe may try to do to hinder this development, it will not succeed. Replacing the dictators of the past with new ones with the blessings of the West will not survive for long. The masses have learned their lesson and wil l not give up until they achieve their rights. S

The Growth of Civilization Essays - 1349 Words

When you stand in front of the mirror, has it ever occurred to you that you belong to a particular civilization and your clothes, culture, language and may be even some of your personality traits are a mark of the particular civilization. The origin of civilization may interest you but, the growth of civilization is far more an important aspect of the same. The growth is considered to be a mark of development of a civilization. On the contrary, sustainable growth of civilization is something that would ensure the continuity of the progress of the civilization. In simpler words, civilization can be understood as ‘sophisticated and peaceful communities’ existing on the earth. Civilization differs from a society because civilization is†¦show more content†¦These were the civilizations of – Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus and China. Since the civilizations have grown and expanded. Presently, regional civilizations, religion based civilizations exist as well. Western civilization and Islamic civilizations are two of the most important civilization existing currently. (Guisepi) For the sustenance of a civilization, the most vital requirement is that of food. Humans have evolved physically from a time when he was a hunter and gatherer. Humans were always on a move, therefore, making it impossible to form a settlement. The evolution of agriculture is considered to be the basic amenity that triggered the process of civilization. Agriculture was a reliable source of food which promised surplus source to the people. (Guisepi) If you analyze the present situation, what do you find? The demand for food is exceeding the supplies. The increase in the price further keeps it out of reach of the poor and the needy. This leads the hungry people to the streets. These hungry people are a source to the terrorists, drugs, diseases and many more evils. 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