With Egypt and much of the Arab world in turmoil, it’s important to consider all of the dynamics and driving forces at work here.
The uprising is not (never is) just about freedom and democracy. It’s not (despite those who keep saying it is) an Islamist revolution akin to what happened in Iran. It’s both more basic and complex than that.
Al Jazeera
Taking a break, Cairo
Flickr, Al Jazeera
Protests in Cairo
Here’s a few updates about attempts to divert the story line on Egypt:
As Time magazine reports, the Mubarak regime is trying to hang on by making misleading claims that this popular uprising is about Islamist extremists.
Some pundits, such as MSNBC’s Robert Windrem, are even warning of weapons of mass destruction breaking loose if a new government in Egypt is formed.
The big news today is that the Muslim Brotherhood, like the Obama Administration, has backed away from demanding President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately. This should now make this Muslim organization, previously shunned by the Mubarak regime but now treated (misleadingly?) as a key representative of the opposition, about as popular as the U.S. government with the democracy protesters. Continue reading
Al Jazeera
Protesters in Cairo
I guess it’s only natural for some people — those of us who can only hold one idea in our head at a time — to conflate Arabs and Islamists in the current upheaval rocking Egypt, Tunisia and throughout much of the Middle East.
Many news stories can’t help but mention Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood as poised to take over after the current regime of President Hosni Mubarak falls. The Financial Times, for example, quotes the highly qualified and objective political analyst Ayatollah Ali Khameni (Iran’s “supreme” leader … yeah, I’m being sarcastic) claiming what’s happening in Cairo represents an “Islamic movement.”
“The events have special meaning for the Iranian nation, Mr Khamenei told worshippers in Tehran’s Friday prayers. “This is what has always been said that an Islamic awakening [could] result from the victory of Iran’s great Islamic revolution.”
Interestingly, that’s the same claim made by conservative talk show hosts in the U.S. and by Mubarak as part of his effort to scare the Western powers into supporting his desperate attempt to hold on to power.
More reasonable people, those who actually know Egypt and Tunisia, say these protests are not at all inspired by radical Islamists but rather by the demands of regular people for freedom, fairness, democracy, jobs and a life free from political oppression and corruption.
Time magazine warns that Mubarak and his cohorts are pushing the Islamist threat in order to provide cover for an even more violent government response to put down the protests.
But even if these protests aren’t prompted by radical Islamists, couldn’t they take advantage of the chaos to take over as happened in Iran? NPR asks, and answers, this question in this great story by Alan Greenblatt “With Upheaval, How Large is the Opening for Islam?”
Not very big, says Greenblatt:
Most academic and policy experts say an Iran-style scenario is far-fetched for Egypt and other Arab countries that are now seeing uprisings. There’s no doubt that Islamist parties will play a role in transitional governments and open elections, should they occur.
The Islamist parties, however, are not the dominant force behind protests in any country outside of Jordan. And, should they attain power in any country, their platforms are more likely to resemble that of the moderate Islamist party that rules Turkey in a secular fashion than those of the ayatollahs in Iran.
Let’s hope the American media’s natural tendency to think Arab=Islam doesn’t end up providing a despot with the excuse he needs to crush what is clearly a popular democracy movement very much in the same political and philosophical tradition that founded our nation.
Like many Americans, if not most, I’ve been captivated with all the news of the “revolution” that is now roiling Egypt and much of the rest of the Arab world. But what’s it all mean for rest of us, for the humanosphere?
Flickr, darkroom productions
Protesters in Cairo
There’s plenty of opinion, hand-wringing and alarmist commentary out there. But I thought this op-ed by Bassam Hassad, a Middle East expert at George Mason University and Georgetown University, was especially interesting and thought-provoking. Continue reading
The political uprising in Egypt took a violent turn recently, as government supporters (whom many reports say are being identified as often police or security force personnel in civilian clothes) clash with protesters on the street still calling for immediate regime change.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who earlier reshuffled his political leadership and promised reforms in an unsuccessful attempt to mollify the protesters, also has said he won’t stand for re-election next fall.
Not good enough, say the demonstrators. They want Mubarak out now.
As I’ve said before, among the best blow-by-blow news coverage of all this is on Al Jazeera English livestream. Some have complained to me that the Qatar-based news network is too biased, but I think the coverage is actually no more biased (perhaps less so) than what you see in American media.
Beyond the breaking news, here are some articles offering perspective:
The Guardian: Who’s Behind the Egypt Protests? (Hint: No, it’s not the Muslim Brotherhood … though the American media tends to always go there …)
Wall Street Journal: The Politics of Food Prices in Egypt.
Huffington Post: The Missing Link in Egyptian Protests.
USA Today: Egypt Rejects Obama’s call for Immediate “Transition.”
That’s the word other political leaders are all using – transition. It’s funny how in these moments of crisis, violence and turmoil, politicians tend to move even more forcefully into euphemism.
Egypt, now in political revolution, is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid, getting more than a billion dollars annually.
USAID
U.S. foreign assistance map
As this data from USAID’s excellent new Foreign Assistance Dashboard shows, nearly all of it has gone for “peace and security” — which is, of course, a euphemism for military spending.
Supporting Egypt’s outgoing (soon, yes) dictatorial president Hosni Mubarak has been the primary motive for that aid, partly because of Egypt’s relatively friendly stance as an Arab nation toward us and toward Israel. Continue reading
World Economic Forum
Well, Bill Gates did get some public attention and additional money for the ongoing global campaign to eradicate polio while hanging out with the rich and powerful at the Swiss ski resort.
Among the other issues discussed by members of the global elite who gathered at the World Economic Forum this year, some pondered the connections between wealth and happiness, finance ministers promised to stabilize the euro, a writer for Forbes attending the invite-only affair complained about being excluded from the inner-inner circle and the Economist’s Matthew Bishop’s described playing at being an oppressed refugee. Said Bishop:
“The activity was worthwhile, stimulating serious conversations about how to address a serious problem.”
At first, I read that as “simulating” a serious conversation since Bishop made no mention of perhaps the world’s most serious problem — the turmoil rocking Egypt and much of the Arab world. Continue reading
If this video footage today from Egypt is representative of what’s going on there, it sure looks like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak better start packing his bags.
When the military teams up with the protesters against the police, it’s a bad sign for the current government.
