Naturally I have opinions about what’s happening in the middle east at the moment. However I’m not going to write a single word about it, because I find it confusing. Perhaps you find it confusing too?

Here’s some interesting infographics to help you follow the situation:

• The Middle East Buddy List (Slate)

• The Middle East Self-Organising Network (orgnet.com)

• The Israeli / Lebanese Coffin Counter

I find this type of thing fascinating, particularly because these types of graphics can persuade us that things are in fact quite simple. Of course they’re not, but that’s not the fault of the graphics themselves - all attempts to represent the real world necessarily simplify. Yet presentations like this create a space in which we can comprehend the real world a little more easily. Plus they look cool.

Courtesy of Infosthetics.