International Journal of E-Politics, 2(3), 1-13, July-September 2011 1 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Keywords: al-Qaeda, Green Movement, ICT in Developing World, ICT in the Muslim World, Iranian Presidential Elections INTRODUCTION The political potential of new forms of infor- mation technologies – social networking, text messaging, blogging, phone cameras, viral mes- saging, You-Tube, and e-marketing – became more than evident in the Presidential elections in 2008. Ariana Huffington, the Editor of Huffing- ton Post observed “Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not be president. Were it not for the Internet, Barack Obama would not have been the nominee” (Miller, 2008). Barak Obama out reached, out messaged and raised much more money than John McCain to become Islam, Revolution and Radicalism: The Co-Constitution of Reality and Virtuality M. A. Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware, USA Reid T. Smith, University of Delaware, USA Onur Tanay, University of Delaware, USA ABSTRACT New forms of information technologies are revolutionizing politics in the Muslim World. This article presents political analysis of the complex global and historical socio-cultural impact of new media speciically social media by exploring two cases, i.e., the green movement during the Iranian presidential elections during 2009 and al-Qaeda’s radicalism in the virtual world. The analysis inds that Islam and Muslim societies are compatible with new forms of information technologies and that the difference between real and virtual is blurring in the modern Muslim World. the first black man and perhaps the first wired President in the White House. While the spec- tacle of his victory was captivating, it was not too surprising because by now the world had a very good idea of the potential of E-Politics, they were just relishing its realization on such a grand scale (Davis, 1999). The new technologies are clearly trans- forming how news and ideas are disseminated and consumed, creating new producers and new consumers and in the process transform- ing the demographics of political players and the nature of politics itself. The vast reach of the new technologies, the relative low cost to start and maintain them, and their continuous and immediate global accessibility has both DOI: 10.4018/jep.2011070101