Even if all the trees were pens and the ocean ink, backed up by seven more oceans, the words of God would not be exhausted. — Qur’an 31:27

Another late Sunday evening, but a good one.  Indeed, a weekend of good late evenings, ripe with meaningful conversation and encounter.  And the days, too, have been lush, but with work — for job, for school, for life.  And while others lament the coming winter, I am finally, quietly, defiant, like the blazing colors of the autumnal trees.  November has always been my favorite month, and not simply because it is my birthmonth.  The manifold colors reveal underyling unities, and with them, new focus.

“It is in the watches of the night that impressions are strongest and words most eloquent; in the day-time you are hard pressed with the affairs of this world.” – Quran, sura 73

It’s a full moon over Leuven tonight.  The small city is quiet, gently illuminated.  Between the Question and the Debate, between the why do i exist? and the contest of faith and reason, there is another space.  And underneath the quivering ego’s thirst for justification flows a river, subterranean and brisk — the one true drink.

Moses said to his servant, ‘I will journey on until I reach the land where the two seas meet, though I may march for ages’

- Qur’an 18:60

We are all in the chiaroscuro, questing between the dark and the light, not so that we can embrace the one or the other, but to find our true selves, whatever or whoever that may be, at the vertical horizon between the two.

Exploring the question of why the normally totalitarian government of Turkmenistan has suddenly and aggressively striven to increase internet access among its population, this article is ultimately a reflection upon the impact of technology upon human society.  As a piece of what can only be described as “journalistic philosophy”, I’m particularly pleased with how it turned out; indeed, its core ideas are why I am a committed cyberjournalist.

Note: a shortened version of this editorial was published under the title, “A Pandora’s Box“, in the “Our Take” section of Transitions Online (TOL).  The expanded version, republished below, originally appeared on neweurasia under the current title (click on the image above to read it).

It’s a philosophical riddle as old as when humanity first learned to harness the power of fire: Will technology bring freedom or slavery?  Lately, observers of Turkmenistan find themselves asking this very question about the Internet.

Turkmenistan has one of the world’s lowest rates of Internet penetration: According to Internetworldstats.com, a website that measures global Internet access, a meager 1.4 percent of Turkmenistan’s population is wired, putting the country in 216th place out of 226.

However, two years ago, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, recently ascended to the Turkmen presidency, vowed to expand the Internet in his nation. Speaking at Columbia University in September 2007, he remarked, “Let me tell you frankly that the atmosphere today in Turkmenistan is just incredible. Our children feel such a strong and intense yearning for knowledge that we just can’t fail and let them down.”

At the time, neweurasia’s pseudonymous blogger Conquistador noted that the speech was accompanied by a presentation showing young students typing on new laptops. In light of the paranoia that marked the previous regime of Saparmurat Niyazov – during which Internet access was sequestered to a tiny elite – the images were a bold statement.

“Will any of this emerge?” Conquistador asked. “That remains to be seen.” Yet, remarkably, it seems that the Berdymukhammedov regime is actually intent on keeping its word.

In September Turkmenistan hosted an IT-themed exhibition called Turkmentel 2009 and a scientific conference. Berdymukhammedov personally addressed the audience, saying, “We are doing our best so that every citizen of Turkmenistan has access to the Internet and modern communication technologies.”

Subsequently, the government declared its intention to launch Turkmenistan’s first ever communications satellite.

BIRTH OF THE TURKMENET

neweurasia’s Annasoltan, has been monitoring the rise of what she calls the “Turkmenet” – the Turkmen-language online community. Although minuscule, it is energetic and growing rapidly.

The Turkmenet’s appearance has already seen the rise of diverse phenomena, ranging from the dissemination of political hip hop songs in the Turkmen language to Islamic revivalism on Facebook.

A salient moment came on 12 September, when riots erupted between Turkmen and Chinese workers for a Chinese energy company in the Samandepe region of eastern Turkmenistan. According to RFE/RL, the Turkmen workers had complained of poor working conditions and wage discrimination.

“Although, as usual with such situations, the incident was completely unmentioned by the tightly-controlled Turkmen media, news of it still reached the Turkmenet,” Annasoltan reported. “[It] quickly sparked a vibrant and very public discussion.

“The riot has been particularly disappointing to those already embittered by the government’s constant refrain that it is defending the interests of the Turkmen population. Many are interpreting the incident as proof that the Turkmen government has sided with foreigners – in this case the Chinese – over its own citizens. One user even compares the Turkmen to the Uighurs of China.”

Remarkably, the Turkmen government did nothing to stop the criticism. In fact, the opposite happened: Ashgabad.ru, a very active online forum where residents of the Turkmen capital comment about their city which was mysteriously shut down in June, was abruptly reactivated.

Several of the forum’s topics are openly critical of the government; one topic even asks expatriated Turkmen, “Do you ever want to return?” [Click here and here to see screen captures of the controversial topic in Russian and English, respectively.  Observe the thread entitled, "I hate Turkmenistan."]

“Something is brewing online,” Annasoltan observes.

THE MOTIVATION?

Reacting to the satellite announcement, Annasoltan writes, “Indeed, aside from boosting national pride and invoking trust in the country’s development, [the satellite launch] does in reality mean good news for the country’s internet and mobile phone users.   Of course, a satellite isn’t exactly what Niyazov had in mind when he vowed to put Turkmens into space during the 21st Century.”  This raises an important question: if not the stars, what is Berdimuhammedov’s destination?

We should first consider the possibility that the government is actually being sincere. It may envision a steady and controlled increase in Internet access as necessary for the country’s development. Certainly, this interpretation seems consistent with what the government itself has said, including a 20 September statement that connected the planned satellite launch with catching up with the “critical role that telecommunication systems [have] played in the modern world.

There has obviously been no mention of the Internet’s potential use for dissent. Yet, a certain tolerance for criticism would also be consistent with a policy geared toward long-term development.

However, given the government’s consistently grievous track record on human rights and democracy, the idea that the authorities may actually envision a free and unfettered Internet as useful to the country’s development strains credulity.

Another possibility, along the same lines, is that the government is naïve, incompetent, disorganized, or some combination of the three. The authorities may simply not yet understand the anarchic effect of the perceived anonymity that comes with the internet – a social phenomenon known all too well in the wired West. Similarly, the government’s online expansion may be outpacing its own ability to police the new cybernetic spaces its decisions are creating.

Yet, the mental image of the government somehow being caught off guard by the Internet, much less its own policies, seems highly unlikely. In fact, previously the authorities have demonstrated a very high aptitude in regulating the Internet.

A more frightening possibility, then, is that the authorities actually want digital dissent. They may be confident in their policing abilities to the extent that they don’t feel a need to obsessively squash online dissent because they see it is as limited to an observable few and easily stoppable.

Conversely, the authorities may find digitalized dissent useful to vent discontent. Indeed, they may be seeking to lure out malcontents in order to catalog them for future elimination. It’s an Orwellian proposition, yes, but Turkmenistan wouldn’t be the first totalitarian regime to try it.

As always with this shadowy government, it is impossible to know its motivations. But one fact is clear: Turkmenistan has embarked upon a journey that could have major consequences for its future political and cultural life.

The satellite launch may one day be seen as symbolic by future Turkmens as the moment when their country embarked upon a unique cyberspace odyssey.  The year 2009 for them could be for them in reality what 2001 is only metaphorically for Westerners.

That’s a pretty bold prophecy to make.  However, recent events in Iran have shown that the Internet, once unleashed, is infectious and resilient. It carves out new and ever-shifting spaces of personal freedom too slippery for state control. It is within these spaces that dissatisfaction finds its voice. Dissidents, newly cyberized, discover that they are not alone and that there is strength in numbers, even binary ones.

Yeah, this is what my cough often feels like.

Whatever bug was ransacking my health last week, whether the dreaded spek griep or history’s angriest chest cold, has been dissipating over the last few days.  I’ve been left with a phlem-spewing cough that would make a xenomorph proud, but I’m feeling better.

I’ve taken set several of my recent Belgium posts to “private” status in preparation for a larger reflection in this space.  I now consider them to be something like rough drafts, albeit angry and despondent ones, of a much more serious but thoughtful post.  Stay tuned. 

I’m always thinking of what I should do with my blog.  Got an idea?  Add it to the suggestion box.

Since my last blog entry I have been very sick.  Don’t panic, but yes, the symptoms have matched those of the flu, and yes, it has demonstrated the speed and intensity that distinguishes a certain bacon-based export from Mexico.

Happily, after sleeping away my week, I’m feeling 75% normal.  I’ve still got one of history’s most disturbing coughs, Droopy Dog sniffles, and persistent fatigue.

I intend to spend this weekend trying to get back in the loop at neweurasia and school.  I’ve got lots of articles to edit and philosophy to read.  Can Medieval Islamic Aristotelian thought cure me?  Let’s find out…

Hahaha it seems that Belgium is full of wonderful surprises for me! *cough *cough

For those of you unfamiliar with Murphy’s law, this is a fundamental premise to the cosmos-is-absurd perspective on life: whatever can go wrong shall go wrong.

Well, I have my own version: if there is an impossibly difficult way of doing something, Christopher Schwartz will find it.

The Dondeynehuis Project gathers for Friday reflections.

It’s been a long, eventful week of orientation, registration, and assimilation.   My Dutch vocabulary has already expanded threefold and I’m even picking up on the basics of grammar and tenses.  This coming week will prove challenging in a new way: choosing courses and arranging schedules.

I’m continually amazed at the sheer amount of hobbies and social activities of the Flemish youth, and while Americans may be far more mature when it comes to working and self-sufficiency, we lag way behind in intellectual and emotional maturity.  The family is also very prominently at the core of Belgian society, symbolized by the dinner table — something that used to be true in the United States.

Clearly there is a difference of values: we judge a person’s merit by their ability to work, while Belgians judge by their social well-being.  (More thoughts to come…)

Where the hell am I?

My first full day in the Dondeynehuis Project here in Leuven.  Totally surrounded by people speaking an alien language with alien customs, including some kind of bizarre ritualistic square dance.  Having fun but also quite bewildered; it’s actually a bit exhausting.  Feels like I’m living an episode of Farscape.

Here’s a new animated video from the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights concerning the human rights situation in Iran for everyone in general and Baha’is in particular.

We are extremely excited to release our latest video, which has been in the works for quite some time now. As we noted on our timeline, abuses against the innocent Baha’i minority in Iran have been committed for over 30 years. Inspired by the reactions of Iran’s latest election, where many Iranians took to the streets to demand change and respect for their human rights, we felt that a new video was in order, especially after this powerful video (whose chants we used in the background to one of this video’s scenes.)

Spread the word!