Wars should have been history by now but why does it still exist
We don't need conflict anymore, we are at a stage where communication has become so rapid that there is no need to retort to conflict. But why does it keep on happening?
Can we take a step back and talk about rapid diplomacy and understand what it means.
If we are reactive to instant communications we risk confusion. We need to communicate effectively and actively listen for diplomacy now more than ever. Marshall Mcluhan said in one of his interviews that WWI was commenced because of the telegram. The speed at which information reached the head of state and the media caused it to react ending in a catastrophic war.
He also predicted the info-war. And we are living in the age of information war. And here we need to get our stories straight faster than anything else. Communications need to be of paramount importance. The need for rapid diplomacy or speedplomacy is here. And we must board the train or we risk another catastrophe. Each country needs to understand the role they play in the global communication web.
We are not going to be in the United Nation’s meetings anymore since technology has sped up the pace unimaginable before. If we want to keep democracy intact we need to act now.
Democracy ideally is made of a mass that has right to engage in civic responsibilities i.e. voting. The mass also has the responsibility to scrutinize the state. This mass is incredibly reactive and as the press becomes freer and freer and communications become more and more rapid. We need to make sure we invest enough in our communications wing to make it just as efficient so the mass could function as ideal citizens and not as reactive populists.
Or we risk WWIII which will be mostly fought because of the lack of understanding and the reactiveness of states.
We need data and comms experts who can crunch numbers and reduce the number of days it takes for countries to coordinate, it needs to talk based on rapid assessments where we don't get confused about our arms and lengths(which is changing every day)of power, and neither do we give in to unreasonable demands.
There is something to be said about power as well. And this is where communication experts have a double role. There needs to be a nuanced understanding of data and power and what each country deems as sensitive.
As the pace of media has changed so we must change the pace and speed of diplomacy and we need to keep up or we risk being in a world of confusion and war till we reduce ourselves to rubble.
The CNN effect(The phrase ‘CNN effect’ encapsulated the idea that real-time communications technology could provoke major responses from domestic audiences and political elites to global events) for the first time showed the power of rapid information, it made the countries react to situations faster. And while some countries seem to be at ease with rapid diplomacy some countries are lacking in their tools.
This is where the UN needs to step in if it wants to stay involved, unlike the UNinvolved nature they are showing.
