Developments in Egypt
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-02-14/developments-egypt
An update on Egypt after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak: The peaceful revolution's impact on the region and reaction across the world. As the military council takes over, Diane and her guests discuss the country's future transition to democracy.
Guests
Aaron David Miller
a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, contributor to "Foreign Policy" and former advisor to Republican and Democratic secretaries of state. His forthcoming book is "Can America Have Another Great President?"
Samer Shehata
assistant professor of Arab politics, Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.
Shashank Bengali
Cairo correspondent, McClatchy Newspapers.
Robin Wright
journalist, foreign policy analyst at the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center, and editor of "The Iran Primer."
Comments
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Last week I wondered about the pressure that might have been placed on Mubarak not to leave his position by the leaders of other Middle Eastern countries? Given the possible protests taking place in Iran today, I imagined there was fear among other leaders that the desire for freedom would spread if the people's demands were met in Egypt.
Diane, please ask yr panelists to comment on the entrenchment of the Egyptian military as an economic oligarchy -- true democratic reform has a large economic component. What is the military leadership likely to do? The corporatism of the military has been aluded to in passing, but has NOT be examined in detail by US media, and seems like a much harder situation to resolve peacefully.
Diane,
All having been said, until the United States and its allies give up the ghost on the War on Drugs and Terror, nothing will change; just as the war on Communism during the 50's left a playing field spewn with CIA removed democratically elected leaders from Guatemala to Iran.
The underlying dynamic of using an amorphous international "bogey man" as an excuse to rape and plunder for profit for the friends of the leaders of the Western powers was and is the driving force behind our foreign policy.
History hasn't ended. Colonialism will merely metamorphose into something new until the citizens in America and England - and now even China - demand that their nations mind their own business, and let private business earn its way without military assistance.
Diane, please ask your esteemed panelists what part, if any, Obama's speech played that he gave in Cairo last year directed toward the people's rights to universal freedoms. We did see "yes we can" signs in the crowd. Mubarak must have been squirming when he heard it.
A caller mentioned that tourists would now shy away from Egypt, effecting their economy. I have to say that I do not agree. I am inspired by the strong people of Egypt to visit there and to experience their culture. The recent revolution and current delicate situation in Egypt will not keep me away - in fact it may have served to encourage me to go!
I am a regular listener, but it really disturbs me that despite Diane's protestations to the contrary, she does not include all points of view. There are legitimate reasons to fear the potential (although not a certainty) of the Muslim Brotherhood coming to power. First of all, the revolution in Iran started with liberals who were then quickly outmatched by Islamists. The opposition in Egypt was united in their hatred ofn Mubarak (for good reason) but not by much else. only in a small fraction of other peaceful revolutions in the world have things ended well and democratically (india and some countries in eastern europe are success stories but georgia, ukraine, lebanon are among the failures). It is certainly true that the muslim brotherhood has moderated their views on violence and working through the political system over the years. But there is clearly a battle in that organization between hardliners and more moderate forces and it is hard to know who will win out. The hardliners have said some extreme things about israel and the west. The repressiveness of the previous regime caused the muslim brotherhood to change their tactics, but they clearly still desire an strict islamic law state and any changes within could have just been tactical adjustments, we just don't know. Their offshoot hamas might have slightly moderated since coming to power in gaza but they are clearly an iranian proxy, have no interest in peace with israel and until they were militarily defeated were shooting rockets into civilian centers. Also statements about jews from hamas exhibit virulent antisemitism.
Diane, please be more serious to include expertd of all viewpoints.
My next overseas vacation will be in Egypt, probably this fall. Antiquities there are the ultimate and the Red Sea resorts are fabulous, but I want to spend most of my time with my liberation heroes and learn how we can bring freedom home to the USA. I hear they use a book by a guy named Gene Sharp at Albert Einstein Institute in Boston. How about getting him on, Diane. He has at least 198 techniques to resist authoritarian rule. You do want to resist authoritarian rule and overcome corporatism?
Or have you accepted fracking and global empire as a done deal?