1. Onnik Krikorian Caucasus Regional Editor, Global Voices Online http://www.globalvoicesonline.org [email_address] E-society I Media Skopje, Macedonia, 2 December 2009

2. New Media in the S. Caucasus

Armenia February 2008 presidential election 10 dead, State of Emergency declared Internet slowest and most expensive, penetration lowest in region Politically polarized blogosphere

3. Georgia August war with Russia Still most activity on forums, now focus on new media Significant development anticipated in 2010 4. Azerbaijan Foreign radio stations taken off the air January 2009 Reported huge increase in online activity, especially blogs Internet penetration reportedly highest in region 5. Blogs: the new Samizdat? 6. Russia-Georgia War 7. Bloggers imprisoned 8. Digital media and conflict Throughout history, war has affected media, with conflict often creating an information void. In the 21st century, media has begun to affect war more than ever before. Digital media technologies [...] have increased communication and information dissemination in conflict settings [...].These new tools can be used to foment violence or to foster peace , and it is possible to build communication systems that encourage dialogue and nonviolent political solutions.Ivan Sigal,Digital media in conflict-prone societies, Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) 9. Nagorno Karabakh

1994 ceasefire

10. Approx 25,000 dead 11. Approx 1 million refugees and IDPs 12. 14-16 percent of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenian forces 13. Border skirmishes and clashes 14. Territorial integrity vs. Right to self-determination 15. Peace deal still elusive 16. Threat of new war 17. Stereotyping the 'enemy' Nowhere in the world can you find two groups of people closer to each other. That is why we often have these stupid disputes between Armenians and Azeris. "This house is Armenian" or "this house is Azeri." Or "this music is Armenian or Azeri." This is exactly because the two have so much in common. [...] I normally say, and people don't like this, thatArmenians are just Christian Azeris and Azeris are just Muslim Armenians . That is how much they are alike. Azeri journalist , Re-arming the Caucasus, Al Jazeera English 18. Media & Civil Society

Media practices self-censorship

19. Media perpetuates negative stereotypes of the 'enemy' 20. Civil society largelyimpotent, arguably insincere or closed 21. Mistaken notion that Armenians and Azeris are ethnically incompatible put into widespread circulation 22. Communicating with the 'enemy' discouraged 23. Opposition and government inArmenia, and government in Azerbaijan, exploit Nagorno Karabakh conflict for short-term domestic political gain 24. Internet & New Media

Growth in Internet penetration and mobile Internet

25. Emergence of progressive youth movements in Azerbaijan as well as online opposition voices in Armenia, and alternative voices in Georgia 26. Unprecedented use of new and social media tools to circumvent government control of the media in Azerbaijan, but also in Armenia 27. Possible focus on civil society use of new/social media in Georgia during 2010 28. $4 million USAID in Armenia over the next four years 29. Bar Camp Caucasus 30. Crossing the ceasefire line

Facebook, MSN

31. Blogs such as Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines 32. Global Voices Online 33. Skype for secure communication 34. Skype for interviews 35. Video blogging in Azerbaijan 36. Catalyst for change

Arrest, detention and eventualimprisonment of Azeri video blogging youth activists, Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli

37. Increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and blogs 38. Coverage on Global Voices Online 39. Discovery of existing, but unknown, Armenian-Azeri online/offline relationships and networks 40. Twitter Contact 41. Potential

Viral nature of online, social media spreads

42. Civil Society asks for contacts for its conflict resolution, simulation, transformation programs 43. Cooperation in Georgia and other third countries 44. Increased communication and networking 45. http://www.oneworld.am/diversity/ 46. Holistic approach I think you cant do it just with social media tools, but as weve seen over the past 15 years, you definitely cant do it by meeting in Tbilisi for a weekend every summer. It becomes an entertainment and Ive had experience with those conferences in Georgia where its just one big coffee break and a waste of money. However, I think thatboth approaches combined could propel things along .Micael Bogar , Projects Manager at the American University's Center for Social Media 47. http://peace.facebook.com 48. What next?I would very much like to seemore debate among bloggers in Armenia and Azerbaijan . We really need some kind of initiative for this because I would really like to see borders opened and conflict resolved. My mother says that when she went to school she had Armenians among her friends. I would very much like myself or my children when they grow up to be able to say the same kind of thing to their children. Arzu Geybullayeva,Regional Analyst European Stability Initiative (ESI), Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines 49. Words of caution New media tools will certainly help in getting people better acquainted with each other, but at the same time can also be used to reaffirm existing biases. Just search on the Internet for Armenian and Azerbaijani web sites and you can find a lot of trash and very harmful discourse from nationalist websites. Im mildly optimistic, but at the same time thinkwe should be very cautious about what we find on the Internetas well. Bart Woord , International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) Secretary General 50. Shameless Plugs

Digital media in conflict-prone societies http://cima.ned.org/reports/digital-media-in-conflict-prone-societies-2.html

51. A web of Peace http://www.osservatoriobalcani.org/article/articleview/12189 52. Global Voices Online Caucasus http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/central-asia-caucasus/ 53. Cultural Diversity in the South Caucasus http://www.oneworld.am/diversity/ 54. Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines http://flyingcarpetsandbrokenpipelines.blogspot.com/ 55. DOTCOM http://www.ph-int.org/what_we/pr106/rus/eng/ 56. http://threatened.globalvoicesonline.org/