Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world • barack obama
position of political authority that he is later loath to relinquish. They may
propel a determined radical fringe into power and thereby impose an ideology
that has nothing to do with what people thought they were fighting for.
They may go on far longer than anyone imagined at the start.
But for engaged outside powers, such as the United States in the Egyptian
situation, a major revolt calls for a leap into the unknown. If you sit back
and wait, events may simply pass you by. But if you jump into the fray too
early (or with a mistaken notion of what is actually going on) you may lose
all influence in the future political construct, whatever that may be. In any
event, you should start thinking about how to repair or rebuild a security
structure that had been safely on autopilot for too long.
Welcome to the real world, Mr. Obama.
Gary Sick is adjunct professor of Middle East politics at Columbia University.
He was a member of the National Security Council staff under Presidents
Ford, Carter, and Reagan and was the principal White House aide for Iran
during the Iranian Revolution and the subsequent hostage crisis.
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