National uprisings in the information age

I've been watching the evolution of popular uprisings in the Middle East with considerable interest.  Whilst in some ways they're the 'same old, same old' as previous revolutions, in other ways they're pointing the way to our integrated, mass-communication future.  You might call them the first 'information-centered' revolutions in history.

• Internet-based social media, particularly Facebook, appear to have played a vital role in the Egyptian revolution.  Wired magazine reported last year that they were used to organize protests, disseminate information, and speed up communications between the various groups involved.
• Last month Wired reported that Syrian rebel groups are using YouTube and Facebook to provide weapons training to inexperienced would-be revolutionaries.  Their sympathizers are posting video clips and other information online, and fighters inside Syria are accessing the material using mobile phones and other equipment.
• The Syrian revolutionaries are also compensating for the lack of independent news media coverage by uploading to the Internet pictures, movies and reports taken using mobile phones.  The Christian Science Monitor has a very interesting report on a young man who's set up an information and media center using only a laptop computer, with 'field reports' submitted on thumb drives.  Ingenious!

Perhaps the most fascinating example of the use of modern Internet communication in warfare comes from Libya last year.  Courtesy of a very interesting link at Information Dissemination, I came across this video (which is worth watching in full, even though it's almost an hour long).  In it, four panelists discuss revolutionary movements and their use of networks, both physical and virtual.  To see the specific portion relevant to this article, use your mouse cursor to move the video's slider to the 27m.25sec. mark for a brief discussion of events involving first, Syrian insurgents, then Libyan citizens and their interaction with a French naval vessel.  The latter is particularly interesting - and amusing!

I can't help but wonder how revolutionary uprisings will continue to evolve in the information age.  I guess in the not too distant future, national infrastructure will be targeted by means of DDoS attacks and other means, instead of blowing them up.  At least that way, they should still be around for use by the revolutionaries when they take over!

Peter