Blog 38: Anecdote

My personal anecdote in relation to my story will be the conversation I had with an Egyptian tour guide in Egypt. He was an aged man with a degree in agricultural engineering from the country’s top college. He was articulate and he explained to me during our conversations of how a military commander like Mubarak could go from respectable to dislike in such short a time. He also told me about how Egyptians resented their current state and yet some found it necessary. He said that others had dreams and visions of what Egypt should become

There is no evidence of Egypt becoming a democracy any time soon. Just as much the stability of autocracies in the region seem assured. However it is not too much to assume that the changes in the Arab world’s most populous country, has significantly impacted the region. Nations over there have for a long time looked at Aegyptus (Latin: Egypt)  as a strong country to emulate. Given what has happened to the country now, most people would wonder if a domino effect takes hold.

As he continued with his narrative the guide told me that to the western world Egypt would always remain the key to the Middle East; the Middle East would be the last piece of the puzzle to find global peace. In fact just considering the impact Egypt alone might have is tremendous. Consider that the Middle East is one of the most conservative and repressed regions of the world. Also consider that amongst the Arab nations, the one with the most culture and least radicalized youth is Egypt. You have a golden opportunity because Egypt is Arab enough to command tremendous respect but Egyptian enough to accept change. As such hypothetical or not, the outcome and transformation of the Egyptian and Arab political landscape will be one of the most defining moments of our time.