Networked Global Problem Solving in international conflicts

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*“Social media has transformed our democratic institutions in such a way that what takes place in the more traditional institutions of power (…) has become almost a sideshow"

Grimsson, president of Iceland

*Global networks of engament

*Global networks

*The internet can be seen as an analogy as well as a medium for global networks. *Facebook connects more than 900 million people

worldwide *Conscious engagement through trade, internet,

social movements*Unconsciously interconnected: “My life, my body,

my individual existence become part of another world, of foreign cultures, religions, histories and global interdependencies without my realizing or expressly wishing it” (Beck)

*Networked global problem solving

*Climate change, terrorism, inequality etc.. are global in their scope and thus require global solutions. *The system of international institutions in

place to address these issues is based on national self-interest and seems incongruent with the scale and severity of contemporary global challenges.*Can global networks provide a new arena

for global problem-solving? *Tapscott: “We are in the early days of an

explosion of new, networked models to solve global problems”

*Can this work in internatonal conflicts?

*Kan dette virke i internationale konflikter?

*3 examples

*Kony 2012

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*Avaaz

*Israel-Loves-Iran

*“I'm not an official representative of my country. I’m a father and a teacher. I know the streets of my town, I talk with my neighbors, my family, my students, my friends and in the name of all these people …we love you”

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*Optimal conditions for NGPS to be applicable in conflict transformation:*Global consciousness*Global responsibility*Global network culture

*Global consciousness

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*Paradoxical curiosity

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*Global Responsibility

* “everybody is free to do whatever they want as long as they do not violate the rights of their fellow countrymen”

Is this enough?

*Global responsible action

*The affect of ones actions cannot be predicted*One cannot act responsibly if one is not aware*Responsibility: A readiness to respond to the challenges one is aware of and to that which is higher

*Eros and agape

*Global network culture

*Culture of contributingA paradigm of ”giving” vs. A paradigm of

”self-interest” *Culture of collaborationA new way of coming together and

collaborating beyond ego*Culture of peaceLet go of enemy images and go to the

root of the problem

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*Second tier approach

*Kony2012“We share what we love and it reminds us what we all have in common”

*Avaaz

*“close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want”*“global public opinion is the new super power, if people lead the leaders will follow” *“we are all human beings first, and privileged with responsibilities to each other, to future generations, and to the planet”

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“there is some nationality which is called humanity, there is some religion which is called love” Majid

*Global consciousness

*Lack of ability to embrace complexity*Kony: enemy image, simplifies the

situation, lack empathy/respect for local context*Israel-Loves-Iran: ”Peace is a simple

process” What is peace???*Avaaz: enemy images, one interview

person; ”high level of global consciousness”.

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*Global network culture

*Fail going to the root of the problem!*Kony: focus on one person rather than the

system*Avaaz: lack of focus, based on western

mass-media*Israel-Loves-Iran: no focus on Palestine

*Change?

*Pogge: it does not change the global system*Singer: it does not change behaviour

*Slacktivism

*Morozov: “given enough tweets the world’s problems are solvable” *People become lacy if they think they can

change the world through a click

*Networked symbolic action

*Challenging pluralistic ignorance*Symbolic action

*Different levels of change

*Cultural change

*“because of the zeitgeist of the culture in the world we needed an enemy” *“let’s suppose we made a movie that’s

better than the Kony-movie – really gets to the heart of the matter – and suppose that it went viral and reached a 100 million people, and these 100 million people say, they learned a lesson and said we have to be united, no more amateurish ‘every person for himself” *Avaaz: Create confidence in humanity and

empower people to create change*Kony: gave rise to worldwide discussions *Israel-Loves-Iran: affect relationships

*Conclusion

*NGPS: not good at solving a specific conflict*But applicable for changing culture