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Cyber-Sovereignty: the Power of Social Media on the Arab

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Cyber-Sovereignty: the Power of Social Media on the Arab ABSTRACT POLITICAL SCIENCE RANDALL, JASON B.S. GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, 2004 M.S.P.P. GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 2007 CYBER-SOVEREIGNTY: THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ARAB SPRING IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT Committee Chair: William Boone, Ph.D. Dissertation dated December 2017 This dissertation assesses the role of social media and its effects on the Arab Spring. The research will be guided by two questions: Could the use of American Dot.com social networking websites (e.g. Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube) by Tunisians and Egyptians during the Arab Spring, to overthrow their governments, be characterized as a violation of Tunisia’s and Egypt’s sovereignty (cyber-sovereignty)? Secondly, what was the significance of the abovementioned social networking websites during the Arab Spring? The first question will be examined by using Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory; the problem, policy, and political streams have to converge simultaneously in order to create a window of opportunity to enact change. For this to occur, it is the responsibility of the policy entrepreneur to combine the three streams. The policy entrepreneur is an i individual(s) who are tasked with the responsibility of integrating the three streams. During the Arab Spring, social media served as a mechanism for citizens to bypass government censorship to chronicle and narrate events as they occurred. As a result, I assert that it was the use of social media in this manner by the policy entrepreneurs that violated the sovereignty of both Tunisia and Egypt. The second question will be analyzed by administering questionnaires and reviewing tertiary sources to assess the significance of the abovementioned social networking websites during the Arab Spring. By examining the two research questions together, the conclusion of this analysis will potentially provide the basis for political cooperation towards an international cyber-sovereignty doctrine. The Arab Spring was far greater than Tunisia and Egypt. However, I felt it was of the utmost importance to focus on the origin of the Arab Spring, as well as the significance in which the role of social media became instrumental. Analyzing the role of social media, the transformation of power, and cyber-sovereignty in both countries through four (individual, state, organizational, and international) layers of analysis will help to assess the role of social media during the Arab Spring and to generate layers of protection to mitigate its influence. ii CYBER-SOVEREIGNTY: THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ARAB SPRING IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY JASON RANDALL DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ATLANTA, GEORGIA DECEMBER 2017 © 2017 JASON RANDALL All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to give all honor and glory to God. I would like to express my thanks to my mother, Judy Randall, for her unwavering support and countless words of encouragement. In the same breath, I want to extend my thanks to my father, Booker Randall, for always impressing upon me the value of an education. I also would like to thank my step-mother, Yvonne Williams-Randall, for her infinite wisdom. I would like to thank my “big brother,” Julian Randall, for teaching me that life is not all about how you begin the race, but more importantly how you finish. I would like to extend my deepest admiration and appreciation to Dr. William Boone, Dr. Hashim Gibrill, and Dr. F.S.J. Ledgister for constantly challenging me intellectually to be a better researcher and writer. In addition, I would like to thank Anita Husen for her advice and direction to form the structure of my survey. Last but not least, I want to thank all of my classmates, friends, family, and brilliant individuals with whom I had the great pleasure of meeting along this journey for directly or indirectly lending their support in making this possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii DEFINITION OF TERMS ................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................. 9 Central Research Question .............................................................................. 12 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................... 13 Research Methods ........................................................................................... 20 Significance of the Study ................................................................................ 24 Organization of the Dissertation ..................................................................... 26 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................ 27 Tunisia............................................................................................................. 28 Egypt ............................................................................................................... 40 Sovereignty ..................................................................................................... 50 Cyber-Sovereignty .......................................................................................... 54 Cyberspace, Diplomacy, and Politics ............................................................. 55 Cyber-Sovereignty and the Arab Spring ......................................................... 58 Cyberspace and the Advent of the Arab Spring .............................................. 60 Social Networking and the Arab Spring ......................................................... 61 iv Social Movements ........................................................................................... 64 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 69 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 70 III. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................. 71 Social Mobilization ......................................................................................... 72 Theory of Revolution ...................................................................................... 73 Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach .......................................................... 76 Levels of Analysis of State Behavior.............................................................. 82 Pluralism ......................................................................................................... 92 Neo-Realism ................................................................................................... 93 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 96 IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 98 Method ............................................................................................................ 98 Results ............................................................................................................. 99 Limitations .................................................................................................... 117 Analysis......................................................................................................... 122 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 125 V. DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS, AND CONCLUSION .............................. 127 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 134 Levels of Analysis of State Behavior............................................................ 139 The Primary Social Media Facilitators of the Arab Spring .......................... 143 Limitations .................................................................................................... 145 Recommendations for Future Research ........................................................ 146 v Conclusion .................................................................................................... 150 APPENDIX A. DISSERTATION QUESTIONNAIRE COVER LETTERS AND QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH) ................................................................ 151 B. DISSERTATION QUESTIONNAIRE COVER LETTERS AND QUESTIONNAIRE (ARABIC) .................................................................. 161 C. DISSERTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (RESPONSES TO QUESTION #25) .......................................................................................... 171 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................173 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theoretical Framework for Analysis ....................... 14 4.1 The
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