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Pay Attention! or Why the Blogosphere Should Cover Afghanistan More |
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Via The Agonist, a Harris Poll finds that many adults in the US are ignorant of and uninterested in foreign news. Hand-wringing will be a common reaction to these findings, but I think the situation is understandable: why and how should Americans pay attention to news from abroad in an era when practically infinite sources and topics are available? More importantly, how can Americans engage with news from abroad when much of it seems to be an unending parade of natural and political disasters interspersed with failed elections and governmental abuses against their citizens? We have become desensitized to the problems coming from other countries, the humanitarian concerns and the social crises, and we do not always have the background to understand the more positive cultural and social developments that occur overseas.
Do I think we should follow foreign news? Of course. But I think one has to have a starting point to provide context. So for Americans who don’t follow much foreign news, I have a suggestion: start by learning about the war in Afghanistan. It will be easier to engage with a subject that involves our own troops and that has repercussions for own politics. Moreover, Afghanistan is a fascinating country whose history and politics have implications that go far beyond the Afghan people. Knowledge of Afghanistan inevitably leads one to think about issues like Central Asian oil, democracy in Pakistan, and Iranian politics.
What is the responsibility of the blogosphere? We should amplify our coverage of Afghanistan. Many bloggers focus on Iraq, but our brains are big enough to cover two foreign wars at the same time. Including coverage of Afghanistan can broaden our political conversations, and can provide useful contrasts and comparisons with the situation in Iraq. Additionally, it does the public the valuable service of reminding them about the details and contours of a war that is real, and dangerous, and important, but all too often forgotten by media outlets large and small in America.
Good point, Ish. It’s appalling how little people know about foreign affairs, etc., but it’s also understandable (to a certain extent). (There’s so much out there! How can one possibly keep track of it all?!?!)
Compare/Contrast between Iraq and Afghanistan is a very fruitful position from which to begin a conversation on American foreign policy, and yet the fact that the connection between (Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, 9/11 and Iraq was) used improperly at the beginning (of the War in Iraq) should not preclude us from re-analyzing the situation now…though I’m wondering if some see the comparison as taboo?
Then again, maybe the first step toward getting bloggers to cover to the War in Afghanistan is to reiterate to them that the war is on-going.
Here! Here!
I’ll be the first to admit being vastly uninformed on the state of Afghanistan and it’s cultures. But the mainstream media doesn’t make it easy on a man. Most of the time, if I want to know what really went on today somewhere in the world, including America, I have to head to the BBC. (They seem to practice the mystical lost art of “Journalism.”)
When America’s mainstream actually bothers to cover foreign issues, nine out of ten times they either just reprint a Reuters blurb or they end up making a giant one-sided, historically-irrelevent spectacle of it. (AKA, “Fox News Special Report: IRAN - How Muslims got so Evil”)
Go Bloggers! Educate the masses! (And me too.)
Cover Afghanistan? I would love to get more information about Afghanistan, but where? One can read books - like a thousand splendid suns, or three cups of tea, or punishment of virtue, or other side of the sky … But how to get semi current information about Kandahar? Or how to get in touch with people in internet cafes there??
Those are great suggestions, E-Lho. I particularly like the International Crisis Group - their reports are often concise and very readable even by laypeople like me.
@Martin - I think that unless one has some special access or opportunity to talk directly with people in Afghanistan, we’re left with secondary sources like the BBC or the others people have mentioned. However, I think acquiring even a passing knowledge of Afghanistan is a major step forward in one’s awareness.
For those interested in academic literature, Barnett Rubin and Mahmood Mamdani are both worth reading to learn about the rise of the Taliban.
As for whether the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan are worth comparing, I definitely think they are. Some of the military issues are the same, and some other issues - like the possibility that we may be getting a better reception in Afghanistan than in Iraq - are worth digging into.
And for what it’s worth, we’ll be making an effort at The Seminal to cover at least the most relevant stories coming out of Afghanistan, and providing background (in small doses) when appropriate. Experts we’re not, but we’re learning as we go.
20 minutes of video of “Mahmood Mamdani” talking about “Good Muslim / Bad Muslim” can be found on Google video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4364828591715853761&q=Mahmood +Mamdani