Technology
For Progress

Cnn ran an article this morning about executives from various social media organizations, Twitter, Wordpress, etc, as well as heavy weights like Google, AT&T, and Yahoo traveling to Iraq and trying to figure out ways to help "democratize" Iraq.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/21/iraq.twitter.technology/index.html

From the article:

The delegation is meeting with officials from public and private sectors in Iraq to "build upon anti-corruption efforts, promote critical thinking in the classroom, and scale-up civil society" among other goals, the State Department said.

That's about all the article mentions on anything positive that will be accomplished by this visit.  The rest is about inane things like how popular text messaging is in Iraq.  

 I want to believe that this effort by the U.S. State Department is a positive one and indeed one that is inline with TechForProgress's mission but something smells fishy.   Am I just skeptical of the State Department not having ulterior motives?  Of course, I am.  To me it just sounds a bit like the rest of the American presence in Iraq pushing the western way of life under the guise of democracy.

This article indirectly underscores a bigger issue that should be paid attention to by all those from industrialized countries trying to go into developing countries and "help out": How do you go into developing countries with modern ideas and solutions for old or new problems and still respect cultural sensitivities and not proceed as an interloper forcing your ways on "the uncivilized"(hope you get the sarcasm here).  Clearly, this question doesn't have a solid answer but must be asked on a case by case basis.  The point is to remember to ask the question.