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

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world • winners, losers
Third, the revolution of the youth has set off a spirit of hopefulness and
activism that will be difficult to contain, in Egypt or throughout the region.
The leaders of Egypt’s old regime—and regimes across the Middle East—
may try to outfox or outlast the challenge, but they are clearly on the defensive
for the first time in the lives of those who now threaten the traditional
rules of politics.
The 2011 Egyptian revolution was not the country’s first mass popular
uprising. In 1919, a remarkably similar series of events occurred, that time
aimed against the British occupation of the country. A nationwide uprising,
one that spread so quickly and reached so widely that it took its supposed
leaders completely by surprise, made it impossible for the British
occupiers to govern the country. The 1919 revolution had permanent and
real effects—it preempted attempts to incorporate Egypt more fully into the
British Empire and led the British instead to allow the country partial independence.
But the incomplete nature of that independence, coupled with
an imperfect constitutional system that tried to mix a monarchy with a parliamentary
system, meant that many of the hopes of 1919 were not realized.
We will learn throughout the coming months whether Egypt’s 2011 revolution
will betray a similar pattern of real but limited change. If it is only
limited change, that will still be an improvement for Egypt. But the hopes of
other peoples in the region are for something more far-reaching. And whatever
differences may exist, for the first time in a generation, Arab societies
look to Egypt for hope and inspiration.
Nathan J. Brown is a professor of political science and international affairs at
George Washington University.
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