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Alex de Waal has posted an interesting piece on the fantastic Making Sense of Darfur blog in which he explains how communication technology is further transforming the face of warfare in locations where communication used to be far more time consuming. In the piece, De Waal analyzes the specific impact of the Thuraya satellite phone on conflict in Darfur; rebel leaders can now communicate with each other from the remotest of areas:

“Tactical coordination is key to a successful operation. Before the Thuraya phone, guerrilla operations needed tight discipline and extremely careful planning. More often, the commanders gambled on surprise and the momentum of battle, relying on their prowess in combat to carry the day. Today, with the Thuraya phone, commanders in distant theatres can coordinate their actions. Or they can assemble forces from different places at very short order. They only need to agree on that day’s operation—tomorrow’s can be planned tomorrow.

A commander with a handful of Landcruisers and a Thuraya is essentially autonomous at a tactical level. It is possible for commanders who formally belong to different factions to coordinate a joint operation at very short notice. Their superiors can do little about it. And it happens.”

“The Thuraya has revolutionalized the bargaining process, and allowed the chief, or rebel commander, to conduct several negotiations in parallel. He can monitor the marketplace, weigh up his options, and renegotiate his deals rapidly.”

This sounds a lot like what was going on in Congo in the late 90s, where Laurent Kabila was taking advantage of satellite phones by striking deals with mining operators and political figures long before he reached Kinshasa. From Paul Collier’s The Bottom Billion:

“Rebel leader Laurent Kabila, marching across Zaire with his troops to seize the state, told a journalist that in Zaire, rebellion was easy: all you needed was $10,000 and a satellite phone.”

Then again, satellite phones also make it easier for information to be conveyed between warring parties. Misconceptions about an opponent’s capabilities are a major reason behind the unnecessary continuation of a given war. As de Waal has explained, satellite phones ease the difficulty of negotiations and could therefore shorten the course of war by making it more difficult for commanders to withhold private information. This could provide groups with more opportunities to end a war.