Week of March 24 – 31, 2003
Document Tools
- Jan Walls, 604.291.5021, 604.291.3689; jwalls@sfu.caBarry Beyerstein, 604-291-3743, 604-291-3354; beyerste@sfu.ca
War gives rise to ‘weblogs’ … The desire for raw information on the war in Iraq has given rise to a new source, weblogs, created by individuals (bloggers) pooling information from a variety of Internet sources. "Their already explosive growth among web aficionados is spreading to the general public as people seek alternative sources of information about the war," says SFU assistant communication professor Richard Smith, who can look at the impact of technology on shaping public opinion. He says the ability to include comments from multiple authors means sites are more dynamic and can be watched, the way news is, rather than visited, as with traditional websites. "It’s one more example of how the Internet is reshaping mass media. It’s a transformation that will have profound outcomes, and like many major shifts in social life is being propelled by exceptional events — a war with global popular resistance and protest."
- Richard Smith, 604.291.5116; smith@sfu.ca
Lessons to be learned…While all eyes and ears are primarily preoccupied with the war in Iraq, one SFU political scientist says foreign policy makers and strategists should be reviewing the lessons of political turmoil in Eastern Europe. Lenard Cohen, an expert on Russian, Balkan and east European politics, says, "The Balkans continue to be an important testing ground for international efforts at stabilization, ethnic reconciliation, reconstruction and democratization. The Balkan laboratory has many lessons for the Iraqi case and potentially North Korea." Cohen can expand on the lessons to be learned and the impact of the recent assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic on regional stability. Adds Cohen, "The criminalization of Serbian politics has resulted in a large number of high profile killings in recent years. The causes for this culture of violence and crime are complex and connected to the deposed Milosevic regime, the wars of the 1990s and problems with the post-Milosevic transition."
- Lenard Cohen, 604.291.4518, cohen@sfu.ca
Finding peace during war…There were no new faces in Donald Grayston’s church on Sunday despite a war raging in Iraq. The Anglican minister and humanities lecturer at SFU says unlike most other wars, people have had a chance to mentally and spiritually prepare for it. He says while such events as the unexpected 9/11 terrorist attacks drove up attendance in church, "even then, the numbers stayed up for about three weeks and then returned to previous levels." Grayston can look at the role of spirituality at a time of war. He says probably the most significant response by individuals has been the rise in ‘waging’ peace, with protests occurring before the war did, unlike Vietnam. "More people than ever before are concluding that war has come to the end of its usefulness in our time," he says. "This is a deeply spiritual perception, one which Gandhi came to, and, by example, challenges us to come to for ourselves."
- Donald Grayston, 604.291.5516; donald_grayston@sfu.ca