News

The events unfolding in the Arab world
have surprised those within this pivotal region and outside. It was
originally held that Tunisia was a sideshow unrepeatable in Egypt or
elsewhere. The dramatic scenes and developments on Egypt's streets have,
however, all but proven this assessment incorrect.

Escalating American calls for restraint, dialogue and change
demonstrate that Washington is distancing itself from Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak. The American objective is to safeguard its long-term
interests in Egypt, the cornerstone of its Israeli-centric Middle East
policy.

Therefore Mubarak will be given time in the hope that he can contain the
situation. But America is positioning itself for change. An orderly
transition, not chaos, would certainly be in everyone's interest.

So far the West has been reassuring itself that as in Tunisia,
demands for regime change in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world are
not due to the ‘Islamist' nationalistic movements that cause it the most
concern.

Most probably while the leaders will change, the well-entrenched
power elite will retain its dominant hold, but will be compelled to
share power with Islamist and other opposition parties.

Popular perceptions rightly or wrongly attribute long suppressed
discontent with American backing for autocratic regimes. So despite the
continuing need fo... >>>