A more tense relationship has developed between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Supreme Council Of The Armed Forces, which is essentially running the country.
As Murad Mohamed Aly, a Morsi campaign official, told me, “The Egyptians did not revolt to get rid of Mubarak … to get another Mubarak — Shafiq or someone.” And this same logic could apply to Amr Moussa, Mubarak’s former foreign minister who currently leads most national polls. “We have strong doubts that Egyptians will elect someone who is connected to the previous regime,” said Aly. “If [Moussa is elected] through interference, we will protest.”
A previous quote from Walter Russell Mead:
‘What we are seeing in the streets of Cairo is less a revolution seeking to take shape than a haggling process. The leaders of the Egyptian political parties want to be able to choose all the parliamentary candidates through naming them to parliamentary lists. That would make party leaders the chief power brokers in a parliamentary regime. The military wants more MPs to be elected as individuals, weakening the parties and making it easier for the real powers in the country to manipulate the parliamentary process.’
Related On This Site: Walter Russell Mead At The American Interest: ‘Mubaraks, Mamelukes, Modernizers and Muslims’……James Kirchik At The American Interest: ‘Egyptian Liberals Against the Revolution’
From Abu Muqawama: ‘Mubarak And Me’…From Michael Totten: ‘The New Egyptian Underground’…Michael Totten At The American Interest: “A Leaner, Meaner Brotherhood”
No heavy analyzation here…just the observance that it seems all politicians worldwide will use all available means to manipulate the parliamentary (substitute US Congress) system. We are not alone in this endeavor.
We give that Council a lot of money, and we have strong interest in a stable Egypt…but inertia is setting in, the old machine’s apparatus like a lid atop the competing interests, including the Brotherhood.
Do we have any ‘credible’ Americans on the ground over there who can assist in keeping things moving forward? The money may be cut after we see the shakeout from Nov. elections here.
There are some Americans at the American University and various others with the State Department and other agencies, but, at the end of the day, we will probably keep providing significant aid (barring an extremely hostile Brotherhood led government with terrorist ties and increasing anti-Israeli rehtoric). I’m not sure how much pull we have, and really, in a lot of cases, there’s not that much we can do. It’s chaotic, and it’s their destiny, really.
Brutal as the Mubarak regime could be, and sclerotic and often corrupt as Egyptian bureacracy can be, the husk of what’s left is what’s keeping a lot of order, and the miltary and the council will protect their interests.
In all of this there is a possibility for change (however you view it), but Western ideals adn interests and money have their own aims.
Tourism and foreign aid provide a significant portion of the economy, I’m not sure how much exactly.
And of course, we need to protect ourselves and our interests.