So Far, So Good

I won't jump on the bandwagon that has criticized the Obama administration on how it handled the Egypt Crisis. It seems to be going well so far, and that is good enough for me.

Mission accomplished, I say. I don't know whether it was good luck, our policies, or all Egypt's success, but it is a success. Not that we don't have more work to do to win the war rather than a phase of the war, as I note in the cited post.

I can dream that we would have appeared more on top of the situation even if we were confused and unsure of what to do during the crisis. There really is value in being able to say, after the fact, that "we meant for that to happen." I hope the administration learns that, at least.

But one way or another, we achieved something in Egypt. Let's not blow it. A lot depends on how the military government handles protester demands for changes in the plan to transition to democracy and how the protesters approach the issue.

Can the protesters and military unite around achieving real democracy despite differences in other areas? Or will they fracture as those lesser factional goals trump the bid idea that motivated a critical mass of people to take to the streets? Can we positively influence the choices that Egypt's factions make? I hope so.

UPDATE: Daniel Pipes has similar thoughts about the short term success and the long term problems. He reminds us that while in the short term, military control was the best outcome, it must be a transitional control since under the military, Egypt has gone from being abreast of the world to a Third World country. See this chart, and be amazed:



Yes, fifty years ago Egypt was behind America a good deal, but was in the same pack as South Korea and a number of European countries. Now? South Korea has surged and even the weaker members of Europe have done far better than Egypt. Egypt's military can't remain in control. They blew 50 years of opportunity already.