Autoritare Regime, Neue Medien und das 'Regimedilemma'

In: Zeitschrift für internationale Beziehungen: ZIB, Band 21, Heft 1, S. 143-160

Abstract

There is a consensus in Social Sciences and other disciplines that media plays an important role in times of political change. Yet, in recent years, the specific role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in political transformation processes receives more scholarly attention, especially against the background of its dissemination and further (technical) developments. Hence, this paper focuses on the concrete structural and functional innovations achieved by New Media (i.e. social media and microblogs) and develops the concept of three dilemmas each authoritarian regime encounters in a different way. This paper poses the central question what potential New Media embodies during different phases of political change. It focuses on the Arab Spring with a case study on Egypt. Based on empirical data derived from comprehensive field work, a micro study will categorize the role of New Media during the different phases of political upheaval in Egypt since 2011. Adapted from the source document.