The events that led up to the eventual rule of the Grand Jury in Missouri are many, complex, and arguably factually incomplete. The accumulation of these events lead to dangerous protests not only in Ferguson, but all across the US by those who feel that the ruling was influenced by racial prejudice and justice was not served. A shameful light is shed on the ubiquitous issue of race relations within the most influential country in the world. For our Security Study interests there also are possible implications on a global scale. One of the most striking things about these developments however was the efficient mobilization of civil unrest nationwide after these incidents occurred. I argue that technology and social media played an important role in the rather successful deployment of social activism.

In addition, this quick engagement may be a result of other related incidents that occurred within a short time period. One also wonders whether there is an influx of race fuelled crimes by law enforcement on minority civilians. Regardless, the unprecedented increase in their reporting on the news and social media allowed for people to be readily informed about them and act. To draw similarities from the Arab Spring, information was quickly available for people to consume via Twitter and Facebook – albeit with more obstacles – and it eventually led to a successful ousting. Seeing similar outcomes of this phenomenon in two starkly different states is a true testament to its impact.

To extrapolate these occurrences on an international level, if racism is still so prevalent in fundamental American domestic adjudication, then what of those regarding external affairs? By no means does this event directly reflect executive policy procedure, but it does hint at a lingering issue that, while very difficult to address and remedy, will still innately influence legislation. It begs the question, are politicians aware of these underlying impetuses, or are they somehow accepted as status quo? But more importantly, these events once more demonstrate the crucial effect that news and social media have on contemporary politics. The facts aired can be easily skewed or simply not given to their audience, depending on the ideals of the broadcasters. Indeed, an already sensitive issue is given more fuel when people’s understandings of what had happened are different. But a positive to be taken is that activism is still alive and people are still inspired to speak out against oppression. Once more, social media is the mechanism in which individuals coordinated and planned themselves to take their respective actions. The media adds a new dimension to democracy that, for all its pros and cons, can create change for the better.

The ‘localized’ event of the shooting of Michael Brown has made waves across the country, and consequently all over the world. It is a paragon of our interconnected world, both across a vast country and all over the world.