While fundamentalist jihadi leaders decry the ills of modernity and globalization, they surely know how to exploit modern, global media and communication for their propaganda - in favor of turning back the clock of history to times past.  Benjamin Barber's important mid-1980s book Jihad vs. McWorld attached the “jihad” label not specifically to Muslim fundamentalists but to other religious and secular anti-globalization/modernization extremists as well; he concluded that the two sides need each other in spite of the deep gap between them.

Click to read more ...

Once upon a time, Karl Marx assigned power to those who own the means of production. Today it's safe to say that power is in the hands of those who either own the means of communication or otherwise manage to communicate their messages directly to their target publics. Governments and influential interest groups have always understood this, and so have terrorists. This point was once again driven home in the latest clash between the Lebanese government and its backers and Hezbollah, the terrorist organization that has actually grown into a mighty guerilla and de facto ruling force.

Click to read more ...