Fourth Generation Wars and the Cultural Identity Crisis among University Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70091/Atras/vol07no01.6Keywords:
Crisis, cultural identity, fourth generation wars, new media, social media, university studentsAbstract
Fourth Generation Wars have received growing attention in recent years, particularly because major powers employ them as an indirect means of dominance. Unlike traditional military confrontations, these wars exploit tools such as globalization and cultural invasion to weaken cultural identity—especially among youth. Social media platforms have become the primary weapon in this context. This study investigates the impact of Fourth Generation Wars on university students at Setif 2 University in Algeria. A descriptive methodology was applied using a structured questionnaire distributed to 70 Master's students in the Department of Media and Communication. The results indicate that students who spend more than two hours daily on social media often engage positively with posts hostile to the state, reflecting a degree of trust in such content. Furthermore, many students frequently combine Arabic with other languages in their online interactions, thereby undermining Arabic's status as a central element of cultural identity.
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