kaya'08
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2008
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- Centrist
Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has ordered the retirement of the powerful head of the country's armed forces, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, a presidential spokesman has said.
No explanation has so far been given.
The situation is a power struggle between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood based on the Turkish model where the secular military was completely sidelined over the years by Turkish fundamentalists. In both cases the military were the real power behind the government and maintained a stable secular outlook despite all their faults.
And in both cases the military would not have been sidelined in such a way if it did not abuse its powe. Its important that we apply this lessons to our relations with other authoritarian regimes in the region.
Specially in the case of the Egyptian military, there were obviously issues regarding abuse of power, but if you wish to discuss the merits of a secular, tainted government against an Islamic one then it's a matter of opinion. I would chose the military secular option which at least gave Egypt stability for many years and I frankly find it doubtful that the Islamists will be able to improve the country's economic situation.
They certainly can if they want to
In Turkey, the mildly islamist party currently in power has overseen a strong rise in the Turkish economy, althought the current account deficit is very troubling
But the Egyptian economy is inherently weaker than the Turkish one, irrespective of their governments. No doubt the Turkish economy was helped by decades of competitive secular government.
Specially in the case of the Egyptian military, there were obviously issues regarding abuse of power, but if you wish to discuss the merits of a secular, tainted government against an Islamic one then it's a matter of opinion. I would chose the military secular option which at least gave Egypt stability for many years and I frankly find it doubtful that the Islamists will be able to improve the country's economic situation.
The Egyptian economy is a fair bit behind that of the Turkish one, but that means quick gains are easier to be made. Egypt has gas reserves, plentiful water if they improved irrigation. If they actuall start to educate the population, they could become a manufacturing base in the region.
If secular governments are reason for economic gains then Egypt should have advanced over the last 30 years rather then stagnate
We are going in circles here, but to be succinct, the Egyptian economy needs more than a change of government to improve.
And I never said otherwise, however the change in government may result in the changes in the economy that will let it grow. Changes that were not going to occur under the old government
... so .... things in Egypt can't go on like this with Mubarak ... and they didn't
they got worse! :roll:
in the short term due to the chaos and uncertainty of the protests of course. That does not mean that in the mid to long term that things will nit get better
The Egyptian economy is a fair bit behind that of the Turkish one, but that means quick gains are easier to be made. Egypt has gas reserves, plentiful water if they improved irrigation. If they actuall start to educate the population, they could become a manufacturing base in the region.
If secular governments are reason for economic gains then Egypt should have advanced over the last 30 years rather then stagnate
I have my doubts that anyone representing the Muslim Brotherhood will bother to educate the populace. Smart people have a habit of disagreeing with the MB. Perhaps the military has overstepped it's bounds, but at this juncture I see it as a stabilizing influence. When the government is no longer ruled by radicals, that would be the time for the military to take a back seat.
The military is who held power for the last 30 years, it did nothing to improve the economy, it failed to educate the egyptian people, it failed. The current government may or may not be better, but at least now there is an opportunity when there was not one before
This is clearly a tense stance between the political and military sphere. Now that the Muslim Brotherhood has made themselves clear on a few touchy points, such as Israel and US.
Once the Muslim Brotherhood has control of the military, once again Egypt will be under a political vacuum. Let's not also forget the non-Muslims, Coptics’ and Jews that are living in the region...
History reenacts itself and it is funny that we never learn from it... :doh
Glad you mentioned the Coptics. I have a friend who has relatives in Egypt. He says they all want to leave, but it is not easy.
Course the Muslim Brotherhood was founded by the middle class, educated men.
New political movements are commonly formed by educated people. At the same time, maintaining control of the followers by the same leaders typically requires blind obedience from "uneducated" followers. The education of the leaders isn't the critical thing, it's the education of the people who follow their bidding that matters.
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