Introduction
There are many people around the world today who use the internet as a tool to promote wars and revolutions in many countries. This is a new trend that has been slowly developing over the past few decades. Today social activists readily use the internet as a tool for promoting social and political causes. As a result, we have witnessed an increase in the number of revolutions and wars in recent years, notably the blue revolution in the Arab world. Through globalization and the revolution of information technology, many groups of people have found new ways of communicating and linking together in social media to form a single powerful group that has the motive of political revolution. Political analysts call this form of revolution the netwar. The current paper is an attempt to examine the Zapatista social netwar that took place in Mexico. In this case, the paper shall attempt to examine the role of social activists in Mexico, along with the motivation of such attackers. The paper will also try to trace the development of the social netwar, in addition to providing recommendations for NTS.
Role of Social Activists in Mexico
In Mexico, social activists play a major role in fighting for human rights for the local people. Social activists enhance the promotion of change in the political sphere, social status of the people, and economic changes. Social activists in Mexico help the government to impose measures that would lead to change for the people. This is achieved through campaigns that may be informed of rallies, strikes and even marching in the street. The most recent form of activism in Mexico is known as the online campaign. This is enhanced through internet communication where activists sent messages on social media and call for people to fight for their rights (Arquilla & Ronfeldt, 2001).
In Mexico, the political problems are solved through activism. This is where activists persuade the government to change laws through their campaigns. They also help to empower the marginalized individuals in society through campaigning for their rights. For instance, most people may feel that they have not been engaged in the economy of the country and may spearhead for the change of policies by the government. One of the latest examples of social activists was a movement known as Zapatista Liberation Movement. This group was formed to change the political situation in the country (Armstrong, 2009).
Motivation of Attackers
The political situation in Mexico has changed over the last two decades. This is as a result of the emerging social war which rose in 1994 through the Zapatista campaign. This was a campaign from anti-governmental agencies known as Zapatista National Liberation Front (EZLN). Many factors motivated the members of the Zapatista movement to form the revolution. These factors can be summarized as social, political, and cultural factors which led to the rise of the social netwar. The most significant fact is that the Zapatista social netwar grew as a result of networks in communication and increased awareness of politics through human rights agencies and this was facilitated by the internet. Zapatista campaign was facilitated by the communication strategy which was made possible through the internet (Arquilla & Ronfeldt, 2001).
It was clear that the Zapatista online campaign by the EZLN had the objective of drawing world attention to the increased injustices to the indigenous people. The power of social media was evident in the campaign because most of the members of Zapatista received reinforcements from the local people and also from the international community to continue with the campaign. Cyberspace gave the Zapatista members to have online meetings where they could interact and strategize on how to fight for their rights. Moreover, these groups also received funding from the international community to buy ammunitions and all the equipment which they needed in the war (Armstrong, 2009).
Methods of Attack
Some of the factors leading to the war include the increased gap between the rich and the poor. The members of the Zapatista movement felt that the government had sidelined them for a long period and they were ready to fight for their rights. They understood the power of social media and this encouraged them to fight. Unlike the traditional strategies and tactics of uprisings such as gorilla warfare, the Zapatista understood the power of the media. This was focused on killing the leaders in the government and neutralizing them. It was a new era of political revolution in Mexico which was enhanced by the power of the media. After several massacres and deaths, the government had to respond to their problems.
The Zapatista staged their war by attacking the politicians on social media. This exposed the international community to get involved in activism for change. The international civil society was attracted by the political wars and this increased the awareness of many individuals in the society. International organizations were also attracted to social activism. In addition, the public sphere was also attracted to the war and it got involved. Human rights groups and other lobby groups were also attracted to the activism and this influenced the government to answer the problems affecting the Zapatista members (Arquilla & Ronfeldt, 2001).
Recommendation to Nts
As an NGO, NTS should fear any group which has formed a netwar against the government. This is because there are many disadvantages and risks involved after rebelling against the government. First, the group is illegal with a mandate to change the government and any involvement with the group may lead to a change of the government. Secondly, the government can also declare war on the NGO and this may lead to the legal termination of the operations by the government. Moreover, the government may also issue a warrant of arrest to the members or worse still end up banning the NGO from operating in Mexico. Therefore, the NGO should refrain from any activity which can be considered as an act of activism (Armstrong, 2009).
Conclusion
To recapitulate, internet power has led to the promotion of social netwar through interconnections. Most of the revolutions today such as the Zapatista war in Mexico and the Arab revolutions are a result of netwar. Through globalization and social media, it is possible to gain influence from the international community and thus enable the course of a revolution. The political spectrum of developed countries such as Mexico has been changed by the developments in communication technology. This shows that politics have changed from violent nature seen through gorilla warfare. Therefore the new political revolution is characterized by the emergence of netwar.
Reference List
Armstrong, P. (2009). Reticulations: Jean-Luc Nancy and the networks of the political. Minneapolis, Ohio: University of Minnesota Press.
Arquilla, J., & Ronfeldt, D. F. (2001). Networks and net wars: The future of terror, crime, and militancy. Santa Monica, CA: Rand.