@msolga,
msolga wrote:
Yes, it has been a youth-instigated "revolution", farmer.
Though, as we have seen, many other Egyptians ( from all walks of society) have joined the protest movement since ...
I just don't know how much the history which has led Egyptians to this point in time is relevant to those young people, that's all. Some of them might not even know, or even care, who Nasser was.
I'm sure that Setanta is quite correct in asserting that the seeds of the current unrest go well beyond the 30 years of Mubarak's rule. Everything leads to the point we're at.
But I'm wondering how the lessons of history (especially to the young people who have instigated this movement) are relevant to the people of Egypt who desperately want change now. I honestly don't know, but I'd suspect that changing the current circumstances which they are living with is foremost in the motivation of the protesters.
Whether the historical roots of the political & economic situations in Egypt are in the minds of the youthful demonstrators you describe or not , they certainly are relevant to the organizations, institutions and, at a deeper level, the perceptions of Egyptians generally. I suspect that is a key element of Setanta's argument that you appear to be missing.
None of us knows for sure what is really happening beyond the media reportage of the demonstrations. In such circumstances it is useful to consider historical precedents for such events as a guide to elements of the dynamic that may be operating, but are as yet unseen.
Setanta and others have noted some elements of the Iranian revolution that proved to be very significant in the outcome, but which were not evident to many of the proponents of the Shah's overthrow, or to international observers of those events. Indeed the process from that revolution to todays unhappy political reality in Iran took more than a decade to unfold fully.
Other revolutions, ranging from the French Revolution of 1789 to the overthrow of the Russian Tsar in 1917 proceeded in multiple acts, with a succession of dominant political forces and actors (Lenin did not overthrow the Tsar: he overthrew a moderate social Democrat (Kerensky) who did that.) We cannot ignore the possibility that something similar might be shown to be operating in Egypt today. The stakes are certainly very high, and, as Setanta noted, it was the Egyptian Army that overthrew Farouq; expelled the residue of British control; aligned itself with the Soviets during the Cold War, and later threw them out as well; and started a political era that has now lasted for about sixty years. It is not likely to allow itself to simply exit the stage with Mubarak.
It is also true that we cannot simply ignore the possibility of a successful popular revolution such as you describe. Reality is usually a good deal more complex than the simplistic scenarios broadcast by an international media with its own axes to grind. None of us can be certain of the future of these unfolding events. However it is always useful to consider history and past precedent in trying to understand such events.
Perhaps you should also consider for a moment the history of your country's relations with its very populous neighbor in Indonesia in its now 65 year journey from Dutch Rule through Sukarno, Suharto and a nascent . democracy. That was a situation which Australia and other western countries could neither fully understand nor control - and only on occasions influence significantly. At times it appeared dangerous and hostile to Australia, and only recently has the prospect of a slow peaceful evolution to a democracy emerged. Throughout you had to deal with the situation as it really was - not as you wished it to be.
