Page 48 - Communications Satellites Global Change Agents

24 PELTON

Today, however, we face something entirely new. We have received some in-
teresting academic insights in recent years about the scope and nature of the prob-
lem. We have been able to read about the perspectives provided by Professor
Benjamin R. Barber in Mc World vs. Jihad, by Samuel P. Huntington in the The
Clash of Civilizations, and, most recently, by Bernard Lewis in What Went
Wrong: Western Impact and Middle East Response. These scholars help us under-
stand the wide gap between instant electronic linkage and empathetic understand-
ing across religious and cultural gaps.
We are constantly being shown that instant electronic contact does not elimi-
nate cultural barriers or distrust across religious, social, and economic barriers.
However, we are only beginning to recognize that the super-speed change in our
technology is leading us not only to new heights of intellectual and scientific un-
derstanding, but also to disconnects between cultures that have different values
and cultural objectives.
Technology provides a powerful duality. Its positive impacts could be called
telepower, on the one hand, and the negative impacts might be called teleshock,
on the other hand. The divisions and emotional rifts that separate our worlds are
no longer just economic, but also cultural, religious, educational, and even scien-
tific and technological. Technology can no longer be considered a tool with neu-
tral value until applied. From the perspective of religious fundamentalists, it can
be a threat or even a demon.
There are ironies and discontinuities at work here. The Al Qaida and other fun-
damental extremists actively use the tools of modernity and communications to
organize and fight "Western Influence." Nevertheless one should not assume that
their anger is directed just at the wealth or religious belief of infidels. They want
separation from outside influence at all levels. A Western technology and capital-
ist marketing system as a "system of influence" is certainly considered a hostile
force.
The choice of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as the focus of the Al
Qaida attack was not accidental. These targets were chosen as symbolic "homes"
of the enemies. These sites represented the very source of capitalist technology
and the U.S. military-industrial complex. Had the capability been there, they also
might have tried to flood Silicon Valley and send a missile into the Hollywood
Oscar awards.
The events that led to the living horror of passenger aircraft being turned into
missiles of destruction on September 11, 2001, undoubtedly have their roots in
electronic technology's relentless assault on change. This is a clear and violent
backlash against the Western change wrought by communications satellites and
outside technology.
There are indisputable clashes afoot in the 21 st century. We can no longer dis-
pute the "frightened" and "frightening" reactions by fundamentalists. They have
inspired a cadre of followers who resist the miasma of change that modern tech-
nology enables and global satellite networks render global and universal through-