www.thebiblog.net, border, february 18, 2010

demarcations between nations have traditionally been drawn in the sand, at times, irrespective of the populations that lie within their boundaries. the partitioning of the ottoman empire by western powers led to the modern day borders of much of the middle east, including iraq, lebanon and israel. these artificial boundaries cut across ethnic boundaries: kurdistan is divided between turkey, iraq and iran despite an ethnically united population. while the middle east remains fractured to this day, advancements in communications technologies are effectively joining these disparate communities back together again. the most pronounced example is the popularity of the satellite tv station al jazeera, which is broadcast across the middle east by satellite. since its launch in 1996, the percentage of homes with satellite and cable access in the middle east has skyrocketed: from 38% to 80% in algeria, and from 8% to 43% in lebanon. an advantage of satellite communication over traditional means of dissemination is that it is economically burdensome to block the signals _in 1999, the algerian government cut off power to entire cities in an effort to stop its citizens from viewing an al jazeera piece on the atrocities of the algerian army. the broadcasting footprint is also many times greater than what would be achievable over the air. with a viewing audience that is 96% muslim, al jazeera is creating a new form of phantom nationhood that puts an emphasis on shared beliefs rather than on shared currencies, laws and governmental apparatus.

border

west coast

trip