In War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century, David Patrikarakos explores how social media is shifting the power balance from governments and institutions towards individuals and networks and the impact this is having on contemporary warfare. Relating the personal stories of individuals caught up in conflict, this book underscores the centrality of narratives and storytelling to understanding the changing face of war today, writes Madeline McSherry

McSherry, Madeline

LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	War	in	140	Characters:	How	SocialMedia	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-FirstCentury	by	David	PatrikarakosIn	War	in	140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century,	DavidPatrikarakos	explores	how	social	media	is	shifting	the	power	balance	from	governments	and	institutions	towardsindividuals	and	networks	and	the	impact	this	is	having	on	contemporary	warfare.	Relating	the	personal	stories	ofindividuals	caught	up	in	conflict,	this	book	underscores	the	centrality	of	narratives	and	storytelling	to	understandingthe	changing	face	of	war	today,	writes	Madeline	McSherry.War	in	140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century.	DavidPatrikarakos.	Basic	Books.	2017.Find	this	book:	A	Palestinian	girl	takes	to	Twitter	to	tell	her	story	of	suffering	at	the	hands	of	Israel.	InUkraine,	a	woman	raises	funds	via	Facebook	for	Ukrainian	troops.	On	social	media,	ahandful	of	individuals	confront	Russia	over	the	downing	of	Malaysia	Airlines	Flight	17.These	are	a	new	breed	of	‘warriors’	in	twenty-first-century	conflict—the	powerful,globally	connected	individuals	that	journalist	Davis	Patrikarakos	calls	‘Homo	digitalis’(9).	These	individuals	and	their	stories	are	on	the	frontlines	of	his	new	book,	War	in140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century.At	its	heart,	War	in	140	Characters	explores	how	social	media	is	shifting	the	powerbalance	from	institutions	and	governments	to	individuals	and	networks	of	individuals—and	it’s	having	an	enormous	impact	on	how	wars	are	being	fought	and	won.	TakeFarah	Baker,	for	instance:	the	Palestinian	teenager	whose	tweets	chronicling	the	2014Israel-Gaza	conflict	went	viral	and	helped	spark	international	outrage	against	Israel.Armed	with	a	smartphone,	Farah	went	from	powerless	teenager	stuck	in	herapartment	in	Gaza	to	citizen-journalist	reporting	on	war	for	a	global	audience.Communicating	in	ways	once	reserved	for	legacy	media	outlets	and	national	governments,	Farah	put	forth	anunmediated	political	narrative	that	lent	support	to	Hamas	and	helped	discredit	Israel.	‘Hello,	I’m	Farah	Baker,’	shetweeted	on	one	occasion.	‘I	live	in	#Gaza	and	Hamas	is	NOT	using	me	as	a	human	shield’	(40).	First	circumventingtraditional	media	then	covered	by	them,	she	became	what	Al	Jazeera	America	called	the	‘sudden	Gaza	spokesgirl’(33).LSE Review of Books: Book Review: War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2018/05/23/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Image	Credit:	(geralt	CCO)As	Patrikarakos	explains,	Farah’s	story	illustrates	that	‘a	lone	teenage	girl	can	now	battle—and	threaten—theinstitutional	power	of	one	of	the	world’s	most	powerful	armies’	(23).	But	what	impact	can	individuals	like	Farah	reallyhave	on	international	conflicts	and	their	outcomes?	By	the	time	the	2014	war	in	Gaza	ended,	over	2000	Palestinianshad	been	killed	and	thousands	more	wounded,	while	Israel	reported	just	72	deaths.	Sure,	Farah	may	have	helpedshape	a	global	narrative	of	Israeli	aggression	and	Palestinian	victimhood,	but	what	tangible	effect	did	she	have?Patrikarakos	anticipates	such	questions	and	provides	a	persuasive	response.	In	an	asymmetric	conflict	like	thatbetween	Palestine	and	Israel,	he	argues,	Palestine	can’t	hope	to	win	the	military	battle.	But	thanks	to	individuals	likeFarah,	it	can	win	the	discursive,	political	battle,	which,	the	author	contends,	has	grown	increasingly	important.	Bytriumphing	in	this	war	of	narratives,	Palestine	gains	greater	international	sympathy,	creating	a	global	environment	inwhich	Israeli	aggression	becomes	less	tenable.Perhaps	more	convincingly,	Patrikarakos	also	shows	how	Homo	digitalis	can	have	more	concrete	impact,	helping	toturn	the	tides	not	only	in	the	discursive	realm	but	on	the	physical	battlefield	too.	Anna	Sandalova,	the	‘Facebookwarrior’,	is	a	prime	example.	She	raised	over	a	million	dollars	via	Facebook	for	uniforms	and	equipment	for	theunder-resourced	Ukrainian	army	during	the	2014	crisis.	Able	to	mobilise	resources	in	ways	Ukraine’s	corrupt	stateapparatus	never	could,	Sandalova	is	living	proof	of	the	ongoing	power	transfer	Patrikarakos	describes:	‘As	the	statefails,	Homo	digitalis	rises	to	take	its	place’	(92).Nowhere	is	this	transfer	of	power	more	evident	than	in	the	story	of	Eliot	Higgins,	the	obsessive	online	gamer	whosesocial	media	investigation	challenged	a	global	superpower.	With	just	an	internet	connection,	Higgins	and	a	smallgroup	of	individuals	conducted	an	open-source	investigation	into	the	downing	of	MH17	more	effectively	than	theworld’s	most	powerful	intelligence	agencies.So	while	individuals	like	Sandalova	and	Higgins	quickly	assume	roles	traditionally	filled	by	nation	states,	how	aregovernments	responding?		Not	fast	enough,	argues	Patrikarakos.	Most	world	leaders	‘govern	like	twentieth-centuryofficials	in	a	twenty-first-century	world’	(197),	unable	to	come	to	grips	with	the	cultural,	social	and	technologicaltransformations	of	the	past	few	decades.But	Patrikarakos	identifies	at	least	one	exception,	a	leader	he	calls	the	‘master	practitioner’	of	contemporary	warfare:Vladimir	Putin	(166).	Taking	readers	into	a	troll	farm	in	St.	Petersburg,	Patrikarakos	lays	bare	Russia’s	‘twenty-firstcentury	military	doctrine’	(256),	which	relies	on	mass-produced	memes,	photo-shopped	images	and	modified	articlesto	reinvent	reality.	The	state	may	be	losing	its	power	to	control	narratives,	but	Russia	is	striking	back.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2018/05/23/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/It’s	on	this	point	that	Patrikarakos	reveals	his	disdain	for	certain	theoretical	approaches,	marking	one	of	the	book’sweakest	arguments.	He	claims	that	‘the	rise	of	postmodernism	within	our	academic	institutions	and	its	lack	of	belief	inknowable	“objective	truth”’	has	enabled	‘the	lies	of	both	the	Kremlin	and	Trump	to	flourish’	(14).	Though	seeminglycasual	and	offhanded,	this	statement	implicates	rigorous	theoretical	approaches	in	the	rise	of	totalitariangovernments.Approaching	academic	research	with	the	humility	of	never	being	fully	able	to	grasp	the	truth	from	one’s	limitedhuman	perspective	should	not	be	conflated	with	a	flat-out	embrace	of	‘alternative	facts’.	Patrikarakos’s	commentcould	be	an	interesting	argument	to	develop,	but	it	comes	off	a	little	condescending	and	potentially	incendiary.	It’salso	ironic	considering	that	a	book	like	War	in	140	Characters—which	places	words	and	language	at	the	centre	of	thesocial	construction	of	war—might	not	have	been	possible	without	a	theoretical	predecessor	like	postmodernism.War	in	140	Characters	is,	after	all,	a	book	fundamentally	about	the	power	of	narratives	to	shape	our	world	and	ourwars.	And	what	makes	it	so	readable	is	that	it	is	a	book	of	stories,	drawing	readers	into	the	personal,	poignant	livesof	individuals	to	explore	some	of	the	most	important	questions	about	the	changing	face	of	contemporary	warfare.Madeline	McSherry	is	a	writer	and	editor	with	an	MSc	in	International	Relations	Theory	from	LSE.	Her	work	focuseson	language	and	representation	in	international	politics.	She	is	also	co-founder	and	editor	of	Foreign	Policy	Rising,	aplatform	showcasing	women’s	voices	in	international	affairs.	Find	her	on	twitter	at	@madmcsherry.	Read	more	byMadeline	McSherry.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	or	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-23Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2018/05/23/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Book review: war in 140 characters: how social media is reshaping conflict in the twenty-first century by David Patrikarakos

Book	Review	|	War	in	140	Characters:	How	SocialMedia	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-FirstCentury	by	David	PatrikarakosIn	War	in	140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century,	DavidPatrikarakos	explores	how	social	media	is	shifting	the	power	balance	from	governments	and	institutions	towardsindividuals	and	networks	and	the	impact	this	is	having	on	contemporary	warfare.	Relating	the	personal	stories	ofindividuals	caught	up	in	conflict,	this	book	underscores	the	centrality	of	narratives	and	storytelling	to	understandingthe	changing	face	of	war	today,	writes	Madeline	McSherry.Image	Credit:	(geralt	CCO)War	in	140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century.	DavidPatrikarakos.	Basic	Books.	2017.A	Palestinian	girl	takes	to	Twitter	to	tell	her	story	of	suffering	at	the	hands	of	Israel.	InUkraine,	a	woman	raises	funds	via	Facebook	for	Ukrainian	troops.	On	social	media,a	handful	of	individuals	confront	Russia	over	the	downing	of	Malaysia	Airlines	Flight17.These	are	a	new	breed	of	‘warriors’	in	twenty-first-century	conflict	–	the	powerful,globally	connected	individuals	that	journalist	Davis	Patrikarakos	calls	‘Homo	digitalis’(9).	These	individuals	and	their	stories	are	on	the	frontlines	of	his	new	book,	War	in140	Characters:	How	Social	Media	is	Reshaping	Conflict	in	the	Twenty-First	Century.At	its	heart,	War	in	140	Characters	explores	how	social	media	is	shifting	the	powerbalance	from	institutions	and	governments	to	individuals	and	networks	of	individuals–	and	it’s	having	an	enormous	impact	on	how	wars	are	being	fought	and	won.	TakeFarah	Baker,	for	instance:	the	Palestinian	teenager	whose	tweets	chronicling	the2014	Israel-Gaza	conflict	went	viral	and	helped	spark	international	outrage	againstIsrael.	Armed	with	a	smartphone,	Farah	went	from	powerless	teenager	stuck	in	herapartment	in	Gaza	to	citizen-journalist	reporting	on	war	for	a	global	audience.Democratic Audit: Book Review | War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-26Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/05/26/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/Communicating	in	ways	once	reserved	for	legacy	media	outlets	and	national	governments,	Farah	put	forth	anunmediated	political	narrative	that	lent	support	to	Hamas	and	helped	discredit	Israel.	‘Hello,	I’m	Farah	Baker,’	shetweeted	on	one	occasion.	‘I	live	in	#Gaza	and	Hamas	is	NOT	using	me	as	a	human	shield’	(40).	First	circumventingtraditional	media	then	covered	by	them,	she	became	what	Al	Jazeera	America	called	the	‘sudden	Gaza	spokesgirl’(33).As	Patrikarakos	explains,	Farah’s	story	illustrates	that	‘a	lone	teenage	girl	can	now	battle	–	and	threaten	–	theinstitutional	power	of	one	of	the	world’s	most	powerful	armies’	(23).	But	what	impact	can	individuals	like	Farah	reallyhave	on	international	conflicts	and	their	outcomes?	By	the	time	the	2014	war	in	Gaza	ended,	over	2000Palestinians	had	been	killedand	thousands	more	wounded,	while	Israel	reported	just	72	deaths.	Sure,	Farah	mayhave	helped	shape	a	global	narrative	of	Israeli	aggression	and	Palestinian	victimhood,	but	what	tangible	effect	didshe	have?Patrikarakos	anticipates	such	questions	and	provides	a	persuasive	response.	In	an	asymmetric	conflict	like	thatbetween	Palestine	and	Israel,	he	argues,	Palestine	can’t	hope	to	win	the	military	battle.	But	thanks	to	individualslike	Farah,	it	can	win	the	discursive,	political	battle,	which,	the	author	contends,	has	grown	increasingly	important.By	triumphing	in	this	war	of	narratives,	Palestine	gains	greater	international	sympathy,	creating	a	globalenvironment	in	which	Israeli	aggression	becomes	less	tenable.Perhaps	more	convincingly,	Patrikarakos	also	shows	how	Homo	digitalis	can	have	more	concrete	impact,	helping	toturn	the	tides	not	only	in	the	discursive	realm	but	on	the	physical	battlefield	too.	Anna	Sandalova,	the	‘Facebookwarrior’,	is	a	prime	example.	She	raised	over	a	million	dollars	via	Facebook	for	uniforms	and	equipment	for	theunder-resourced	Ukrainian	army	during	the	2014	crisis.	Able	to	mobilise	resources	in	ways	Ukraine’s	corrupt	stateapparatus	never	could,	Sandalova	is	living	proof	of	the	ongoing	power	transfer	Patrikarakos	describes:	‘As	the	statefails,	Homo	digitalis	rises	to	take	its	place’	(92).Nowhere	is	this	transfer	of	power	more	evident	than	in	the	story	of	Eliot	Higgins,	the	obsessive	online	gamer	whosesocial	media	investigation	challenged	a	global	superpower.	With	just	an	internet	connection,	Higgins	and	a	smallgroup	of	individuals	conducted	an	open-source	investigation	into	the	downing	of	MH17	more	effectively	than	theworld’s	most	powerful	intelligence	agencies.So	while	individuals	like	Sandalova	and	Higgins	quickly	assume	roles	traditionally	filled	by	nation	states,	how	aregovernments	responding?		Not	fast	enough,	argues	Patrikarakos.	Most	world	leaders	‘govern	like	twentieth-centuryofficials	in	a	twenty-first-century	world’	(197),	unable	to	come	to	grips	with	the	cultural,	social	and	technologicaltransformations	of	the	past	few	decades.But	Patrikarakos	identifies	at	least	one	exception,	a	leader	he	calls	the	‘master	practitioner’	of	contemporarywarfare:	Vladimir	Putin	(166).	Taking	readers	into	a	troll	farm	in	St.	Petersburg,	Patrikarakos	lays	bare	Russia’s‘twenty-first	century	military	doctrine’	(256),	which	relies	on	mass-produced	memes,	photo-shopped	images	andmodified	articles	to	reinvent	reality.	The	state	may	be	losing	its	power	to	control	narratives,	but	Russia	is	strikingback.It’s	on	this	point	that	Patrikarakos	reveals	his	disdain	for	certain	theoretical	approaches,	marking	one	of	the	book’sweakest	arguments.	He	claims	that	‘the	rise	of	postmodernism	within	our	academic	institutions	and	its	lack	of	beliefin	knowable	“objective	truth”’	has	enabled	‘the	lies	of	both	the	Kremlin	and	Trump	to	flourish’	(14).	Thoughseemingly	casual	and	offhanded,	this	statement	implicates	rigorous	theoretical	approaches	in	the	rise	of	totalitariangovernments.Approaching	academic	research	with	the	humility	of	never	being	fully	able	to	grasp	the	truth	from	one’s	limitedhuman	perspective	should	not	be	conflated	with	a	flat-out	embrace	of	‘alternative	facts’.	Patrikarakos’s	commentcould	be	an	interesting	argument	to	develop,	but	it	comes	off	a	little	condescending	and	potentially	incendiary.	It’salso	ironic	considering	that	a	book	like	War	in	140	Characters	–	which	places	words	and	language	at	the	centre	ofthe	social	construction	of	war	–	might	not	have	been	possible	without	a	theoretical	predecessor	like	postmodernism.War	in	140	Characters	is,	after	all,	a	book	fundamentally	about	the	power	of	narratives	to	shape	our	world	and	ourwars.	And	what	makes	it	so	readable	is	that	it	is	a	book	of	stories,	drawing	readers	into	the	personal,	poignant	livesof	individuals	to	explore	some	of	the	most	important	questions	about	the	changing	face	of	contemporary	warfare.Democratic Audit: Book Review | War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-26Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/05/26/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	that	of	Democratic	Audit.	It	first	appeared	on	the	LSE	Review	ofBooks	blog.Madeline	McSherry	is	a	writer	and	editor	with	an	MSc	in	International	Relations	Theory	from	LSE.	Her	workfocuses	on	language	and	representation	in	international	politics.	She	is	also	co-founder	and	editor	of	Foreign	PolicyRising,	a	platform	showcasing	women’s	voices	in	international	affairs.	Find	her	on	twitter	at	@madmcsherry.	Readmore	by	Madeline	McSherry.	Similar	PostsFaced	with	an	‘infodemic’	of	fake	news	about	Covid-19,	most	people	are	checking	their	facts	–	but	we	mustn’tbe	complacentBrexit	and	election	advertising:	an	asset	for	some,	a	liability	for	othersInformational	privacy:	a	precondition	for	democratic	participation?General	election	2019:	unregulated	digital	political	advertisements	are	damaging	our	democracyIs	democracy	going	digital?	Why	the	Twitter	debate	on	Catalonia’s	independence	mattersDemocratic Audit: Book Review | War in 140 Characters: How Social Media is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-05-26Permalink: https://www.democraticaudit.com/2018/05/26/book-review-war-in-140-characters-how-social-media-is-reshaping-conflict-in-the-twenty-first-century-by-david-patrikarakos/Blog homepage: https://www.democraticaudit.com/

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