As Egypt's much-anticipated moment of crisis arrived and popular rebellions shook governments across the Middle East, Iran has stood as never before at the center of the region. Its Islamist rulers are within sight of dominating the region. But revolutions are hard to pull off, and I predict that Islamists will not achieve a Middle East-wide breakthrough and Tehran will not emerge as the key power broker. Here are some thoughts behind this conclusion:
Here comes deja vu, the default mindset of the naive West, all over again. Learn nothing, remember nothing.
The U.S. national soccer team canceled its Feb. 9 exhibition against Egypt in Cairo because of the political turmoil there.
The White House on Monday called for free and fair elections in Egypt but is refused to say whether the administration believes President Hosni Mubarak should run in those contests.
A coalition of opposition groups called for a million people to take to Cairo's streets Tuesday to demand the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, the clearest sign yet that a unified leadership was trying to emerge for Egypt's powerful but disparate protest movement.
The Obama administration on Sunday delicately avoided taking sides in the political uprising in Egypt, calling instead for an "orderly transition" of government to advance democracy and improve the economy, and for an end to the county's destructive and deadly street protests.
A leaderless uprising in Egypt rallied Sunday around Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, with the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition group, saying it will support him in negotiations with President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
Before Cairo fell into chaos, the U.S. Embassy in Egypt was worried about the stability of President Hosni Mubarak's regime and its perpetually poor human rights record.
As Egypt’s regime totters on the verge of collapse, President Obama is looking less like Ronald Reagan and more like the Gipper’s predecessor, Jimmy Carter. The turmoil in Egypt is markedly similar to the revolution that gripped Iran 33 years ago. Egypt may be to Mr. Obama what Iran was to Mr. Carter.
