Thursday, July 4, 2013

Egypt's Rocky Road Into The Unknown

The Egyptian military’s ouster of President Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood is, to play with Lenin’s famous expression, one step back (away from democracy) in order later to take two steps forward (for democracy).

The Muslim Brotherhood electoral victories that brought Morsi to power with a parliamentary majority show ability of a disciplined minority to gain power over an undisciplined majority. The Bolsheviks gained power in October of 1917 through their greater discipline (and their willingness to use force) despite garnering only a quarter of the votes for the constituent assembly at the peak of their power and popularity. It is noteworthy that Morsi ran on an electoral platform that promised a secular Egyptian state. It was this electoral promise that he was backing off when he was ousted.

go to forbes.com
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJuly 16, 2013 at 2:07 PM

    a) "The Egyptian people, with their long history of secularism,...".

    In the context of Middle East, distinguishing between the muslim people (musulmán) and their secular government might be instructive.

    b) The Arab spring might be in fact a 'sand storm' that is yet to be recognized as such.

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