Egypt's "Spring" Revolution (Merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

Londonstani who has experience of both Egypt and Pakistan comments:

..the main difference between Pakistan and Egypt right now is that Egyptians have found a public voice and a confidence to say what it is they expect from their leaders. And, this new-found expression is being tentatively exercised on a daily basis. Pakistanis, on the other hand, have little faith in the political system or their collective ability to change things for the better through the systems that presently exist. Despite talk of the lawyers marches a few years ago, in Pakistan there really is no such thing as "popular" dissent. Public protest in Pakistan only reaches significant levels when it is backed by an established political force.

In Egypt, political actors have learnt to fear "the people". In Pakistan they fear particular political parties, the military, families that run madrassa networks or media bosses.

Link:http://www.londonstani.com/blog/2012...ni-future.html

He also points to Juan Cole's commentary:http://www.juancole.com/2012/06/egyp...ent-junta.html

One passage as a taster:

What the Egyptian officer corps seems not to know is that the legitimacy and authority deriving from the ballot box will over time trump the military, no matter how positive people’s feeling are toward the officers.