Hey! Check This Out!: Protests and Globalization

I read the article on 'Season of Discontent: Protests Flare Around the World'

With globalization, it seems that the way people interact with their government and how they might rebel has been influenced by the internet and modern globalization. The article likely touches on this, but due to people having access to seeing what life is in other nations and have another situation they can compare their own to and can observe their disparities relative to other countries. I think about how this is something that has to do with soft power significantly, especially when it comes to ideologies. Citizens that might be subjected to an authoritarian government might have a seed of unrest if they come into contact with cultural ideas of freedom that have permeated the borders from a democratic nation. It seems to be the case that it is much easier for people to recognize illegitimacy in their own government once they are exposed to what a legitimate government might look like. The United States has been strategically influencing countries to adopt their own ideological mindset through soft power (as well as smart) since the Cold War, and some of this progress can be seen from the uprisings listed in the article. While I am arguing that the U.S might have influenced the uprisings through soft power, that’s not to say that the uprisings have multiple complicated and long running factors and the U.S.’s supposed global influence is just a small part of the puzzle. This soft power amplifies unrest and can weaken a government’s internal sovereignty and break their control over the citizens. This is often in countries under authoritarian rule or with a heavy lack of legitimacy. The other aspect of the internet having an influence on protests is how with the information age, individuals are empowered through cyber power. Protesters have the ability to share their message and gain traction for their movement from all around the world, and it is a great promoter for change. Either within a country, it enables people to rally together, or if it garners attention from outside countries and it causes them to put pressure onn the government to change or sends in needed resources, cyber power gives the user an important tool: the power of publicity. 

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