I'm sure you have been as enthralled as I with the eighteen-day demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Cairo which ended with Muburak resigning yesterday and going into retirement. It is an amazing revolution of the young imposing their collective will on an authoritarian regime and winning.
The victory, however. is temporary until we see how this game plays out. The military is making the right sounds: respecting the will of the people, promising reforms and a prompt election but not declaring too many specifics. America has had to play a cautious game, favoring democratic principles but trying to walk the tightrope over that abyss called the Middle East. Now is the time we can work in the background and use our power and influence to help push for a solution to create free elections and suitable candidates. We are going to have to face the reality that Islamic influence in the form of the Islamic brotherhood will have a voice in whatever government emerges, but, according to most reports, the brotherhood is moderate and not radical.
Nothing stays the same in a changing world, and flexibility becomes the operative phrase. What we have to encourage is stability and a thoughtful process to build a new constitution and to encourage a secular approach to government based on the needs of the majority.
It is not going to be easy, but we must help Egypt stay the course and ensure that freedom is more than an empty phrase of lip service.
What's next in the Middle East? I'm certain the brush fire of democracy will sweep on. Let's be part of the sweeping and not the swept.
Let's hope for the best. I have my doubts that the military will actually give up power, or they may possibly hold elections but still be the real power behind the elected president.
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