I can’t say that I foresaw the events coming in Egypt. I mean, I knew the people were angry with Mubarak and that no one liked him. But even after I heard about the revolution in Tunisia, I never thought Egypt would overthrow the government. I used to live there (and still know people living there) and I am honestly surprised that the people were able to organize and orchestrate such a big demonstration. The anger has been building for years though, and I don’t think the people will stop until Mubarak steps down. I don’t know what the heck he thinks he is doing. It’s not the government the people have a problem with, it’s Mubarak’s dictatorial leadership. Naming a Omar Suleiman as the new Vice President will not help anything. Ugh, he is being ridiculous. Perhaps someone is in denial? It’s just sad though because what started out as a relatively peaceful protest against a dictatorial regime has turned into total anarchy and chaos. There are always the crazies who just have to take advantage of a lack of authority.
I wish I could say that Egypt will become a democracy but I really don’t think it will. I mean Nasser overthrew the King in order to end autocratic rule and well, that didn’t really work out down the road, now did it? Someone else will come to power claiming to have established a democracy and then he’ll be President for the next 30 years. I hope I’m wrong though. But man, things are so corrupt over there. Do you know how easy it is to bribe a policeman?
As far as conditions in the Middle East go, I think Jordan may have some trouble and I think Saudi Arabia would too if they didn’t have such tight control over the media and the people. Whoever comes to power next in Egypt will basically determine the fate of Israel/Palestine. If the new President chooses to ignore the peace treaty then Israel is screwed because Egypt was their only ally. I’m assuming the reason why the U.S. government and Obama have been so silent on the issue is that they are afraid of supporting the protesters (even though they are calling for democracy and the people actually want American support for once) because they are afraid of who will come to power. I mean, Mubarak may not have been the President of a real democracy but at least he kept peace in the Middle East.
Phew! Sorry about the lengthy answer, I just wanted to have my two cents.