I had the chance to do a talk with Ivan Sigal, Executive Director of Global Voices, at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington DC this week. The talk was primarily about the paper that Ivan wrote, titled Digital Media in Conflict-Prone Societies, which should be out soon. I filled in as a representative of Ushahidi, a prototype of the way new media is being used in ways that challenge the status quo.

"Digital media in conflict-prone societies have the potential to foster dialogue and peace or to fuel hate speech and violence. The rapid spread of digital-based communications and information networks is likely to have an effect on 21st-century wars, which increasingly center on internal conflict, disputed borders of new states, and separatist movements. At the same time, some of the most positive and innovative media projects are coming out of the developing world as people adopt networks and software applications for their own ends."

It's a long talk, including the question and answer period, which is probably the most interesting part. It looks like NED got it all up though, and here it is:

Digital Media in Conflict-Prone Societies from CIMA on Vimeo.