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

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world • 18 days
vive. In 2000, when mobile and Internet technology and satellite television
were less widespread, it was much easier for Mubarak’s regime to project a
make-believe image because Egyptians were willing to believe their country
was respected on the world stage. As time went on, it became harder to hide
Egypt’s social and economic stagnation as well as its decreasing weight on
the world stage from its citizens. And the more the regime used force to
suppress dissent, the more it alienated itself from its people.
Finally, it was the popular revolt in Tunisia that made Egyptians feel that
Mubarak would have to go for their pride to be restored. If little Tunisia
could manage to remove a dictator, so could they.
Amil Khan is a former Reuters Middle East correspondent and author of The
Long Struggle: The Muslim World’s Western Problem.
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