up next on "the communicators" is deborah wheeler. she's a professor at the united states naval academy, and we'll be talking about the internet and the middle east. we're now joined by deborah wheeler who is a professor at the u.s. naval academy and the author of this book, "the internet in the middle east. "and we invited her to be on "the communicators" to talk about what's happened in egypt and how it's happened. deborah wheeler, how was the country of egypt, the government of egypt able to shut down mobile and internet traffic for six days? >> guest: well, thank you so much for having me, and before i get started i just want to say that my views today will be my own and not respective of the naval academy or the united states government. [laughter] so -- but back to your fundamental question. yeah, shutting down the internet, right? our worst nightmare. actually, most egyptians' worst nightmare as well. as you saw when they shut it down, not only did the government lose $90 million during that two days, but the protests grew rath

we are now joined by deborah wheeler, professor of the u.s. naval academy at the author of this book, "the internet and the middle east." we invited her to be on the communicators to talk about what's happened in egypt and how it's happened. deborah wheeler, how was the country's egypt, the government of egypt able to shut down mobile and internet traffic for six days? >> thank you so much for having me. before i get started by want to say that my views today will be my own and not representative of the academy or the united states government giving it back to your fundamental question, yes, shutting down the internet, our worst nightmare. actually most nightmare as well. when news of the shutdown not only did the government lose $90 million during that hiatus of internet traffic but the protests actually grew rather than declining, and some have argued that that's because all of the board teenagers who don't have jobs and are educated and computer savvy have nothing to do so they may as well join the protest so it backfired. >> but how did th

we are now joined by deborah wheeler, who is the author of this book. "the internet to tyhhe middle east." we are talking about how egypt was able to shuyt down mobile and internet traffic in previous days? >> my views are not those of the naval academy. shutting down the internet. not only did the government lose $90 million but the protest in all theros grew because bored teenagers without jobs who are computer saavy, so they joined the protests. >> how did they do this? haveny of the country's traffic that is managed, with information -- or the amount of loyal corporate entities. we have what is happening in egypt, we tell them to stop service. >> and how will they stop the service? there is the kill switch. is there a way to stop traffic at the border. >> this is a matter of removing the trip -- the address from the roster of applicable traffic, and enclosing this down. i am not a specialist on the side of things. i am looking into the social and economic impact of these technical relationships. >> you said that $90 million -- this is government rev

to shut down the internet, and deborah wheeler of the u.s.aval academy of the impact of the internet on the middle east and its contribution to political awareness. tonight on c-span2. >> mr. president, it is my great honor today to speak on the floor for the first time as a united states senator. >> the new class of freshmen senators have been giving their first speeches on the senate floor. all their appearances on line with c-span's "congressional chronicle." track the daily house and senate timelines, read transcripts of every session, and find a full archive for every member. >> on television, on radio, and online, c-span, bringing public affairs to. created by cable, it is washington your way. them coming up in about an hour, we will bring you a panel discussion on the role of white house press secretaries. scheduled to take part, several former presidential spokesman. you can see that live starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. to get us there, here is the current white house press secretary, robert gibbs. he briefed reporters

. >> host: deborah wheeler, what are you currently teaching? >> guest: well, i have a seminar called new world disorder middle east. [laughter] >> host: why is that important to teach at the naval academy? >> guest: well, we have future officers who within months are going to be in service of this country, and many in the regions that we're talking about today, and it just gives them an opportunity to do a 30-page research paper on a p topic of their choice as long as it relates to that theme in some way, shape or form, so -- >> host: why is it important? >> guest: i think that the middle east isn't going anywhere quickly. i think that it's an area of strategic importance. general petraeus has said that we're interested in oil, we're interested in stability, we're interested in the palestinian/israeli conflict, and those issues are just going to become more important in this information age, so we need our men and women in uniform to be aware. >> host: so, finally, if you had to make a definitive statement about the role of social media in the

to shut down the internet and deborah wheeler on the impact in the middle east. feddis tonight on c-span2. >> every weekend, experience american history on c-span3. it is 48 hours of american events in first-person story. history bookshelf features the best known history writers of the bus -- past decade. and it traveled to important battlefields. every weekend visit college classrooms across the nation as professors delavan and to america's past during lectures and history. of joy and curators, collectors and historians -- and join curators, collectors and historians. american history tv on c-span3 all weekend, every weekend. pixar schedule on line and how -- and signed up to have them e- mail to you using the c-span alert. now from -- former vice president dick cheney, the keynote speaker at a banquet saturday celebrating the 100th birthday of ronald reagan. his remarks are just under an hour. >> good evening. i am delighted to come participate here in the functions of the center as well as the reagan not 100 celebration. it really is an historic occasion becau

. >> on "the communicators," karen evans and timothy karr, and deborah wheeler. 2.night on c-span >> every weekend, experience american history on c-span3 starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern. hear first-person accounts from people who have shaped modern america. "history bookshelf" features some of the best writers in the past decade. visit college classrooms across the nation as professors delve into america's past during lectures. join characters behind-the- scenes at the museum exhibits on -- curators behind-the-scenes at museum exhibits. american history tv on c-span3 -- all weekend, every weekend. get our complete schedule online and sign up to have an e- mail to you using our c-span alerts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: robert draper has a piece in the "national geographic" in their recalled -- in february, called "opium wars." how big is this issue -- a much of our focus is on the war effort and the taliban and the insurgency. how big is opium to the future of afghanistan? guest: it is fundamental. the are two means by which afghanistan gets money. their are two revenue s

>> it's a game changer de weeks demint deborah wheeler is a professor of u.s. naval academy. we appreciate your participation on the communicators. >> thanks for having me. >>> up next, fcc chairman julius genachowski of a plan to promote a broad and expansion to rural areas by redirecting a federal subsidy now used to support phone service. he spoke in washington for half hour about the sec's national broadband planned and priorities for this year. >> well, good morning everyone. welcome to a itif eve ensler we are honored to feature julius genachowski to talk about impending universal service reform efforts at the fcc. as you all know, universal service is a critical component of our nation's telecommunications and broadband policies, but it really hasn't been updated in a long, long time would be the kind way of saying that, and the chairman is leading a major effort to do that, so we are really honored to hear from him today. let me start by if you all know the background, but let me start, chairman of genachowski was nominated by president obama as the chairman of the fc

to shut down the internet, and deborah wheeler on the impact of the internet on the middle east and its contribution to political awareness tonight on c-span2. >> mr. president, it is my great honor today to speak on the floor for the first time as a united states senator. >> the new class of freshman senators have been giving their first speeches on the senate floor. follow their appearances online with c-span's congressional chronicle, track the daily house and senate timelines, read transcripts of every session and find a full video archive for every member. congressional chronicle at c-span.org/congress. >> the heads of ibm and dell gave their recommendations for how the federal government can save a trillion dollars over the next decade and improve its place in the global economy. both are part of the technology ceo council which met with president obama during the week. this 50-minute event was hosted by the center for strategic and international studies. >> they are going to have to leave fairly quickly, too, so we're going to really dive into this very quickly. and i'm going to,