What does this mean in practical terms in Egypt?
In practical terms, we had far better control with Egypt's future last week. Our military relationship with their military is solid. But as this goes on, the Muslim Brotherhood gets its claws deeper rooted into the movement and we look more and more as that "foreign devil" who would rather their oppressions be intact for our immediate and short lasting stability concerns than gamble on them being decent human beings in the end, which is better for our long term security.
But we have to accept that after decades and decades (even centuries for some of their societies), that they may choose a bumpy path. Like the French, maybe they will slaughter out polityical loyalitsts that disagree with them. But one thing is sure. They will not take 70 years to figure it out.
I try to see things from a tactical vantage point. And there has been nothing tactical about any of our Cold War behaviors, in regards to dictators, pharaohs, and twisted regimes, when it comes to our long term security. Israeli ambassadors to the UN and Republicans and Democrats are beginning to find their common voice and speak on behalf of Mubarak, because they fear change. European leaders are as absolutely useless as usual and waiting around to declare their "neutrality" on the issue if it comes down to responsibility. And they all fear "instability." Well, after 30 years of Mubarak, the entire Middle East faces a grave change. How "stable" has Mubarak been to our long term security? What if Egypt began experimenting with democracy 25 years ago? Where would we be today? People whine about Hamas. Well, maybe their first steps was to elect the immediate rhetoric. Maybe their next elections will be better and better and better. Maybe Iraq's future will show greater and greater improvement so that one day our business deals are no longer tied to Cold War dictators and twisted regimes, but legitimate democracies who prefer our business from the bottom up. In the end, this means that we see less religious rhetoric being legitimized by their zealots and far less impoverished, ashamed, and futureless youth willing to die for "God." Takes you back to 9/11, doesn't it? But do we really think this region is going to elect a Napoleon? With all of our stubborn and impotent fear about instability, we deny ourselves the perspective that even the almighty French elected in an emporer that went on to devistate all of Europe and North Africa before they fancied themselves as the inventor of democracy.
My point is that until we accept that democracy isn't just for white people in Europe and America (with black people along for the ride) and get away from our smug, self righteous, and racist attitudes towards the rest of the world, we will conitnue to put off the inevitable. And since the Middle East has been voicing for modernization and democracy since the beginning of European colonialism (which totally screwed up this region), we only encourage the transition to be worse and worse the longer we deny it. Either we take the hits now or our children take worse ones later.