Modified Boomerang Pattern

I briefly mentioned it in my Module 6 paper, but I think there is an element to the boomerang pattern which could be added. The article Activists Beyond Borders by Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink describes how NGOs in a state requiring action on a particular issue can pressure outside NGOs who can then put pressure on international organizations or other governments to demand change from the original state in question. On certain issues, I think the global public can play a role within the pattern and be key to pressuring a state to change its ways.

I believe there are issues which require more than NGO pressure on outside governments or international organizations. For instance, there are some issues which are easier for outside governments to ignore or only pay lip service to. Issues like freedom of the press come to mind where no one is being physically hurt or no single group of people is being repressed based on race, gender, etc. NGOs may be successful in pressuring a world power to condemn issues like free speech violations, but that often isn’t enough to usher in real change. In order to be more effective on certain topics, NGOs could do a better job communicating certain issues to the global public and make them feel inspired to also demand change. NGO pressure backed up by an outraged global public would be more effective in convincing outside governments to take real action. A global public infuriated by a particular event could lead to mass demonstrations or protest groups not necessarily tied to an NGO. These informal groups could be just has meaningful as NGOs in communicating displeasure with an issue. 

Motivating the global public to take an impassioned stand on any particular issue, admittedly, may not be an easy task. However, technology has made it more possible. Social media can be an effective tool to spread awareness of an issue all over the globe in a short amount of time. The Joseph Kony video which flooded Facebook a couple years ago was incredibly effective in outraging people over an event most probably would have never heard of sans that video. It’s impossible to say if the video or public outcry led to government action, but the US military did eventually send troops to hunt Kony. 

The Keck and Sikkink article was written back in 1998 when social media was in its infancy and not nearly as prevalent as it is in 2014. If the two had developed their boomerang pattern now, I wonder if they would have placed any emphasis on the ability of the global public, not just NGOs, to pressure outside governments to act.