Though I do feel that Glassman unnecessarily simplified this to a world where Qaeda=Web 1.0 and US=Web 2.0. McLuhan be damned: sometimes the message trumps the medium, and, in the case, al-Zawahiri misfired with his words. (And it should be noted he was always on top of the new media; I am familiar with this prison TV moment which helped galvanize EIJ in its day).

Though to a separate point by Glassman (and one not unique to the 2.0 era), I recognize Matt Armstrong’s point that the State Department didn’t have to do anything overt to fan the flames here.

I’d just add here that I’ve seen political liberals make the argument that conservatives aren’t sufficient;y “2.0″ and thus not open to other viewpoints, that is partially what leads to a failure in the war of ideas. I’m still not sure on that one. I’m more tempted to go with the theory that a particular ideology (e.g., militant jihadism) fails on its own grounds.

Well, I assume there is more data behind Glassman’s speech– it would be interesting to read (and, most certainly, easier for the rest of the blogosphere to digest than a 70-minute video! the politicalsphere seems occupied today more with who is going to lead the State Department next year. Important, as well, I suppose!)

All the blogs cited thus far are American, but Evan Kohlmann of the Counterterrorism Blog, has a great post on the reaction in Al Qaeda forums and in the African-American Muslim community. Two quotes: “Global reactions to [al-Zawahiri's] controversial condemnation … have begun to pour in — including via the top jihad web forums used by Al-Qaida to disseminate its propaganda” and “Several U.S.-based Muslim organizations immediately held press conferences or issued statements to strongly criticize al-Zawahiri”

While these aren’t direct examples of how the new media landscape is undermining Al Qaeda’s ability to get their message out, they do speak to U/S Glassman’s first point, that technology is merely a facilitator. It seems that, for a variety of reasons (principally, in this case, the election of Obama) the environment is shifting under Al Qaeda’s feet, allowing the influence of these technologies to bite harder into their message than they otherwise would.

thank you for taking notes! Good summary; I just listened to his speech, and am listening to the questions. I agree with the subtext of your second question above– the policy of the United States speaks louder than particular communication techniques. (I hear the first questioner raising the question of “moral consistency”)

I have another question– and I see that you are in fact a state dept employee, so maybe you can follow-up and find out — is there solid evidence to Al Queda diminishing their influence because the apparent interactivity of “web 2.0″ is an anathema to them? The fact that al-Zawihiri took four months to answer questions… did that result in some real soul-searching among Queda sympathists?

Jon