Clash Of Civilization In The Online Nexus
Musk On A Not So Secret Mission Against Russia
Elon Musk challenged a country in a single combat fight online. He is challenging Vladimir Putin to fight over the ongoing Russian War in Ukraine. This started with him posting on Twitter that said: “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin [name in Russian] to single combat [...] Stakes are Ukraine [country name in Russian]”. This tweet and a few other ones were directed at the Russian government’s official Twitter page.
In another tweet, Elon Musk asks: “Do you agree to this fight [quote in Russian]”, directed at Putin to see if he accept this fight while tagging the Kremlin in the post (Meyers, 2022). However, most of the responses were from Musk's followers, who have claimed that Musk has not thought this challenge through (Meyers, 2022). Another response was from the Russian space program Director General, who described the CEO of Tesla as a “little devil”.
In addition, one of the responses that stood out was from Ukraine's vice prime minister and head of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov. He retweeted Musk's tweet and stated that: “I am sure that Elon Musk [tagged his name] can send Putin to Jupiter”. He then posted the meme Figure 1 of the Russian President inside a spaceship with the words: “Send Putin to Jupiter”. Fedorov, furthermore, linked a website to the meme, where donors can contribute money to Ukraine.
Figure 1. Mykhailo wants to send Putin to Jupiter with Musks help.
Consequently, it is plausible to assume that the clash of civilizations within this artistic example highlights the global politics we live in today (Nederveen, 2009). There is a clear interaction between Western and non-Western civilizations. It is the world political relations between ‘the West and the rest’, that are a central focus of conflict (Nederveen, 2009). This means that within this artistic example, the fault lines of conflict include the borders of Russia and Ukraine and this borders Europe, and will maybe come closer to the USA (Figure 2).
Simply put, Elon Musk represents a civilization which is a substitute for the USA, because of his 100 million followers, that retweet and like his posts, which represents a clear support system. These followers are part of the Western ideology as the paradigm of the clash of civilizations describes (Nederveen, 2009). This is because the followers are following Musk a South African, living and working in the USA which is a Western place. Russia the opponent, is the rest, a non-Western civilization that does not share the same ideologies (Nederveen, 2009).
Figure 2. The modern clash of civilization involves Russia, Ukraine, Western Nations and the online nexus.
In this clash, Elon Musk proposes to challenge Putin, via a tweet, to a combat fight. Such type of aggression should be undermined. The West should keep greater cooperation with the rest, even cooperating relations with Russia, as stated in the book by Nederveen (2009). However, the book was written before the War in Ukraine, which may negate this factor taking into account the current matters. However, within the book, the main aim is to maintain economic, and military power and protect the Western interest through consistent cooperation (Nederveen, 2009).
Furthermore, this particular aim of the paradigm is described by Nederveen (2009) and mentioned for the first time in a quote by Samuel Huntington in 1993. This paradigm is there to exploit the differences and conflicts, the idea of dividing the world into civilizations, civilization spheres, or civilization systems based on religion (other factors may also be included). This means that civilisation has a different way of knowing the world and distinguishes people from one another, a cultural differential (Nederveen, 2009). This consequently means that culture is being represented as a new fault line of conflict (Nederveen, 2009).
In other words, the ‘new enemy’ is a discourse of two matters, first the fundamental threat in this case of Russia, and the second the yellow peril that is to combine the two. This means that the fault lines between civilizations are replacing the political and ideological boundaries as the flash points for crisis and bloodshed (Nederveen, 2009). Even though the book by Nederveen (2009) focuses this discourse on Islam and the Cold War, it is possible to contemplate that the new War between Russia and Ukraine, is in the same place. The war at their borders is having an effect on civilization. This might create a new iron curtain on Russia aimed at its invasion of Ukraine, a civilizational idiom (Nederveem 2009).
References:
“Elon Musk Challenges Putin to ‘Single Combat’”. Late Night with Seth Meyers. Youtube.com. (September 8, 2022)
Nederveen Pieters, J. (2009). Globalization and Culture. Rowman & Littlefield.
Elon Musk [@elonmusk]. Twitter. (2022, September 8)
President of Russia/Vladimir Putin [@KremlinRussia_E]. Twitter. (2022, September 8)
Dimitri Rogozin [@DRogozin]. Twitter. (2022, September 8)
Mykhailo Fedorov [@FedorovMykhailo]. Twitter. (2022, September 8)