How Twitter became the main stage of tensions between the U.S. and Iran
Fidípides, it is said, was the first to run a marathon. In 490 BC, the Greek hero acted as a messenger, soldier and diplomat at the same time. One of the versions of legend states that, first, he traveled at least 200 kilometers between Athens and Sparta, to ask for Spartan assistance in the impending war against the Persians. Then, and always at full speed, he set sail into the field of combat. After the Greeks won the Marathon Battle, however, there were fears that the escaped Persians would go with their boats towards Athens in revenge maneuver. Fidípides raced again, now the famous 42 kilometers of the Olympic marathon, to warn Athenians. For his success, Athens was able to prepare and repel Darius I's empire.
In the past, diplomacy was doing: running from side to side. The method has evolved. Came the horses, the ships, the cars, the planes, the telegrams, the phone calls. In the 21st century, it's Twitter'sturn. The social network, in which virtual blue birds broadcast short messages in a virtually instantway, is the scene of one of the most tense negotiations in contemporary history: the exchange of barbs, with aggressions and setbacks, from Donald Trump with Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister.
In 1962, throughout the missile crisis in Cuba, it was still time-consuming, difficult to promote communication between nations. Diplomats preferred to register everything in writing, because speaking can be misinterpreted. So it took, as an example, around 12 hours for the U.S. embassy in Moscow to decode a message of only five pages of the Soviet Union. Throughout the negotiations, there were other moments like this. When Soviet representatives had to send letters to Washington, for example, they trusted a cyclist. Yes, on a cyclist. He was up to pedaling to the White House to leave Nikita Khrushchev's little toilets.
The communication problem was noticed by the Russian leader. When he decreed the final agreement, peace agreement with the United States, Khrushchev made an announcement on the radio, so kennedy would soon hear the official note from the Soviet Union. After all this shuttle is that the Communists proposed the creation of the famous red phone, as a contact hotline between the two sides of the Cold War.
In recent days, Twitter has involuntarily applied to become a refurbished red phone. That's where tension between the United States and Iranwas followed. On the social network, Trump even hinted that he would commit a war crime: attacking regions of cultural and religious value for Iranians. On the site, Javad Zarif immediately responded to the Maneuvers of the American President. After the death of General Qasem Soleimani,he promised revenge.
The story continued to consolidate on Twitter. There circulated the hottest rumors, such as the letter that the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq would have handed over to local leaders, promising the withdrawal of his troops. Also warnings, such as the notification that prevented U.S. commercial aircraft from flying over that region of the East for security reasons.
Just as Twitter became the scene to celebrate tapas in each other, it was in it that setbacks were promoted, supposedly in search of peace - it is not known whether temporary. Maybe we owe the social network the quick hoist of white flags. Tensions have not come even close to the intensity of cuba's missile crisis.
Iranian Javad Zarif was not long before tweeting after the bombing of U.S. bases in the region: "Iran has taken and concluded proportionate self-defense measures under Article 51 of the UN ... We are not looking for the escalation of war, but we will defend ourselves against aggression." Trump soon positioned himself, again on his main platform, Twitter: "Everything is fine! Missiles fired by Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Evaluation of deaths and damage being done. So far, that's fine!"
We witness a moment that certainly goes down in history. From an era in which diplomatic actions are taken publicly, in real time, in the eyes of all, in the showcase of social networks.
Twitter has opened, yes, doors to scan cruel, frightening faces of humanity – fuels hatred, anger, prejudices, including those spread in profiles of tweeters such as Trump and Bolsonaro. However, it is also consecrated not only as a field of action for crowds that pressed all sides – usa, Iran, or even in the case of those who asked Bolsonaro not to play Brazil in the midst of military discussions – but also for the responses of the leaders pressed. For everyone's luck, for now: "So far, that's fine!".
No comments:
Post a Comment