We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Morsy, the Coup and the Revolution: Reading between the Red Lines

Click here to access article by Hesham Sallam from Jadaliyya.

This is the most sensible analysis that I have seen of the recent re-shuffling of military figures in Egypt.
...as compelling as it is to interpret these recent developments as a civilian coup against Egypt’s military rulers, there are some indications that they are the product of a movement within the military’s own ranks to avert an impending confrontation with civilian political forces and to reconfigure the army’s role in politics in a way that leaves its autonomy and long-term interests intact.
I wonder if the "impending confrontation" might have been a coup attempt against Morsi by the dismissed top Egyptian generals. An article in Haaretz (Israel) provides some evidence of this.

I would not be surprised if US operatives were also involved in this reorganization. In any case, Egypt is staying clearly within the orbit of the Empire. Here is another piece of supporting evidence from Haaretz which reports: 
Egypt will discuss the possibility of a bigger-than-expected $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund when a delegation from the Washington-based body visits Cairo this month, its finance minister said.