The paper under consideration dwells upon the role telecommunications has played in the development of the Arab world. It is argued that telecommunications has played significant role in the development of many Arab countries. These changes can be found in different planes: economic, social, political, educational, etc.
Thus, it is mentioned that telecommunication services in the Arab world are put into the private sector, which has made these services more accessible. This has led to certain changes in private life of people. Now increasing number of people prefer using telecommunications to do the shopping (e.g. use their phones to order goods) instead of going to malls or markets.
Apart from shopping habits, telecommunications also have influenced people’s attitude towards other cultures. Thus, now more and more people learn foreign languages (English and Chinese) to be a part of global communication. However, the change is not one-sided. Now Arabic is the seventh top language used in the Internet. More so, it is noted that the development of telecommunications has led to the spread of Shi’i Islam faith to other countries (predominantly Central Asia).
As far as social changes are concerned, telecommunications have influenced the way various issues have been discussed. Thus, such important issues as violence, democracy, civil rights and inequity have gained quite considerable attention.
Notably, telecommunications played really important role during the Arab Spring. Revolutions, rebellions, upheavals and protests in such countries as Egypt, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan and some others were ‘nourished’ by telecommunications as people were able to discuss various issues and share ideas.
Admittedly, telecommunications enabled many people to enter the discourse. Eventually, this led to rise of awareness, and, as a result, to various protests and even revolutions. Therefore, the impact of telecommunications has been significant. At that, it is also pointed out that access to telecommunication services is still low in Arab countries.
It is important to note that the present research is very important as it provides insights into the correlation between technology (telecommunications, to be more precise) and the development of the society. The Arab world has been experiencing a lot of changes throughout decades.
Many of these changes are due to the development of telecommunications in the region. The changes are manifested on different levels: political, social, economic, etc. The paper reveals the correlation between the spread of telecommunication services and changes which are taking place in the region.
Nonetheless, it is possible to note that further research will provide more insights into the development of Arab societies. For instance, the paper does not highlight changes in such important sphere as the sphere of education. Besides, it is mentioned that the position of women in the society (and associated issues like violence, inequity, etc.) has gained a lot of attention due to telecommunication services. Nonetheless, it is still unclear whether this attention has resulted in any changes.
It is also unclear whether the interest to the problem is increasing. Finally, it is noted that governments and other authorities try to control (at least, to certain extent) information interchange via the Internet. It is possible to try to trace the influence of such kind of control on the spread of telecommunications services and the development of the Arab societies, on the whole. Therefore, it is possible to state that the present research can be extended to look at the issue in more detail.