I had an interesting idea that generated as a culmination of reading this Foreign Affairs article, "Finish the Job," "The Political Power of Social Media," and "The Digital Disruption" from last month's issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.
Starting with the fact that the winds of change in the Middle East are turning against authoritative governments, why not use social media to effectively combat the Taliban?
According to the previous articles, our first order of business is to embrace or create a popular movement that stands in opposition to the Taliban values. And we would be required to expand this movement most likely through the technological benefits and advantages that we can provide to the members of this burgeoning opposition movement.
Our next step is to start a campaign that paints the Taliban as standing in opposition to new technologies. We must show that the Taliban is actively opposed to the new technologies that improve the livelihood of Afghanis. And thus, represent the Taliban as repressive. For example, there are reports that the Taliban control cell phone usage. This could be the first instance of such a campaign.
If such a movement lifts off the ground, the coalition forces would want to take additional steps, such as the use of portable cell towers and Internet access. The coalition forces could be known by their technology. Remember, we must win the hearts and minds of the people and we must do this by illustrating our desire to bring them a better life. We must also subsequently impress them with the fact that our technologies proliferate in a free society and so if they wish to embrace these technologies, they are in fact asking for freedom, and not Taliban rule.
Fundamentally, I just figure that the only way to beat a bottom driven underground guerrilla movement is with a bottom driven underground guerrilla movement.
