Civil Discord in Egypt this past week...

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Will the Mubarek government fall?

If so, will a more parliamentary form of government emerge?

If not, what accomodations, if any, will be made to Egyptians currently marginalized?

Will the Islamic Brotherhood accede to power, and if so what does that mean for the Middle East and for the West?

Thoughts?

[a completely inoffensive name]

What is the difference in purpose from this thread and the Egypt thread already made?

[Centurion1]

yeah seamus you need to lock your own thread.

[Major Robert Dump]

He poses very specific questions, and the other thread is too long and out of control.

I can't answer any of the questions other than saying a "wait-and-see" approach is warranted. The days of the US picking "stability" over justice I think are coming to a swift end. The old saying that "countries don't have friends, they have interests" is one that will fall to the wayside in the new information age makes it difficult for us as a nation to hide our unholy alliances.

Of course there are those who seem to think that america has never and can never do any wrong, and they are blaming the situation in Egypt on President Obama wholesale right now. Seriously, it's the usual pundits.

[PanzerJaeger]

The problem is that there are other emerging and re-emerging powers who are all too willing to prop up strong men around the world. Speaking as an American, standing for democracy and human rights is all well and good, but not if it leaves the United States at a strategic disadvantage in a critical region.

Egypt was a key ally against the Soviets and later against Islamic terrorism. Hopefully this unrest will yield a secular, democratic state that embraces Western values (lol), but President Obama needs to be prepared to deal aggressively with whoever comes to power to keep Egypt in the US' corner.

[Major Robert Dump]

The problem is that there are other emerging and re-emerging powers who are all too willing to prop up strong men around the world. Speaking as an American, standing for democracy and human rights is all well and good, but not if it leaves the United States at a strategic disadvantage in a critical region.

Egypt was a key ally against the Soviets and later against Islamic terrorism. Hopefully this unrest will yield a secular, democratic state that embraces Western values (lol), but President Obama needs to be prepared to deal aggressively with whoever comes to power to keep Egypt in the US' corner.

As an American, I would tend to agree with you. However, abscense a clear and immediate military threat it is hard to justify to anyone other than Americans that we support a bad regime to benefit us at their expense. Furthermore, where do we draw the line? Can nations continue to support oppressive regimes because it keeps their energy, labor and agricultural prices low? Doing such things also minimizes true acts of international humanitarianism and defense of human rights on the part of Americans.

There is no doubt that whoever takes the reigns in Egypt must be held accountable by both regional and world leaders. I can think of far worse regimes than the one being ousted in Egypt, and I find it highly likely that a fledgling democracy is going to fail, at least initially, and will require its problems to be ironed out.

The question is what level of patience do the Egyptians have, and what are their short term expectations? Short of long term financial infusions by multiple world partners, nothing is going to create equality and jobs overnight, but all too often the people involved in fledgling democracies and revolutions expect immediate results. I would hope the education level of Egyptians as a whole would prevent them from the same path as, say, Bolivia.

[Furunculus]

Of course there are those who seem to think that america has never and can never do any wrong, and they are blaming the situation in Egypt on President Obama wholesale right now. Seriously, it's the usual pundits.

shouldn't that read:"there are those who seem to think that america has never and can never do any right, and they are blaming the situation in Egypt on President Obama wholesale right now"

[a completely inoffensive name]

shouldn't that read:"there are those who seem to think that america has never and can never do any right, and they are blaming the situation in Egypt on President Obama wholesale right now"

No.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

He poses very specific questions, and the other thread is too long and out of control.

I love specificity, but the orgahs are voting with their posts for the other thread. Ah well.....