Feldman: There's no chance of restoring Egyptian democracy

[cali]

In case you still thought Egypt's coup was leading to democracy, the violent destruction of Muslim Brotherhood protest camps and the appointment of 19 generals as provincial governors -- occurring more or less simultaneously -- should cure you of that appealing fantasy.

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Western democrats want to love the Egyptian liberals who bravely helped bring down Hosni Mubarak and then misguidedly followed the same playbook to sink the legitimately elected Mohamed Mursi. But the emerging reality poses a puzzle about those Egyptian liberals and their country's future: Why in the world did thoughtful believers in democracy think that it was a good idea to stage protests that would invite the army to take out Mursi? And what, if anything, can be done now to get democracy back on track in Egypt?

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A more cynical view is that the liberals knew the army would suppress the Brotherhood -- and wanted it to happen. The Brotherhood could be counted on to like elections as long as it was winning them, but its commitments to liberal rights, as opposed to electoral democracy, were paper-thin. After the drafting of the Islamic-oriented constitution -- which was ratified in a national referendum -- liberals feared that the Egyptian public was willing to take a chance on the Brotherhood. That result frightened liberals, who by then had lost parliamentary and presidential elections. Knowing they couldn't win at the ballot box, liberals were happy to let the army take care of their electoral nemesis.

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The upshot will be that the liberal rights sought by the protesters won't exist -- not just for the Brotherhood but also for them. Their principles gone, they will be tarred by the brush of collaboration. And eventually, the Islamists will be back.

The next time, though, it won't be by the ballot.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/feldman-there-s-no-chance-of-restoring-egyptian-democracy-1.5897214

[Fumesucker]

1. As he presents it there was a cold blooded calculation

Live under evidently majority Islamist rule or live under a military junta.

Frying pan and fire, but which is which?

[cali]

3. well, he presents that as one possibility.

but he definitely views recent events as presaging a civil war of one form or another- as does Richard Engel.

[cali]

2. Engel wrote a very interesting analysis on August 9

and he, like Feldman, writes from an informed pov. Like Feldman, Engel is fluent in Arabic. He also lived in Egypt.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/08/19935461-analysis-egypt-has-all-the-ingredients-for-an-insurgency?lite

[cali]

4. If you want context and informed analysis on Egypt, read Feldman, Murphy and Engel