Lately I’ve been tinkering with my various social media accounts. Most significantly I am experimenting with Twitter again. I have decided to rebrand under my real name, so @reach364 has been retired and I am now tweeting as @jacobsenmd. I never thought much of Twitter, but that’s primarily because I saw it as a megaphone for broadcasting information–and I found it rather inefficient for that. I never broke through to the level of building and sustaining relationships, which is where I keep hearing that Twitter’s magic lies. I am making that effort now.
Second, I’ve changed the header at Building Peace. The new header features the great Athenian leader Pericles facing off with a Spartan king across a map of the world. The new banner captures the scope of my interests better than the previous one, and is designed to illustrate something of what I mean by “building peace.” My use of those words might lead to a presumption of naiveté or idealism, especially in military and policy circles, but I am actually a staunch realist and believe that genuine peacebuilding demands pragmatism and a ruthlessly honest understanding of the world we live in. That world happens to be the same world of Thucydides, a world captive to the tragic forces unleashed by fear, honor, and interest.
