Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Egyptian Revolution in Identity Crisis



Illusions and Reality

By PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch

"....The Egyptian revolution is suffering an identity crisis. Many Egyptians wonder if there was a revolution at all or simply a military coup whereby Mubarak and his cronies were sacrificed so the rest of the Egyptian ruling class could stay in power. But, at the same time, dramatic changes are going on even if part of the reason for them is to head off a more far-reaching revolution. There is also a general recognition that the old system was rotten and dysfunctional to its core.

Egypt today is full of contradictions....

The military have so far been surprisingly effective in reassuring those with a stake in the status quo that nothing much will change, while insisting to the pro-democracy protestors that a new era is dawning. It is not a balancing act that can go on for ever."

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