The author provides an excellent assessment of the unfinished revolution in Egypt in the context of the Arab Spring revolts. He implies that it is a work in process because once a people experience revolutionary possibilities and their power to change things, it's very hard for any ruling class to put this genie back in the bottle.
As the fighting between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military continues, there remains the real risk of a return to the exploitation of the Mubarak era. Such a choice would be a safe and stable bet for global capital. But any future military regime needs to take note that the Egyptian people now have a memory of revolution. They have political consciousness and experience of ousting leaders who do not represent their interests.This revolutionary spirit is also a big threat to the rule of the Empire in the all important Middle East and its access to their resources. That is precisely why the Syrian situation is so dangerous. While the Empire directorate is desperate to bring about some measure of control in Syria, Syrians and people as a whole in the Middle East have experienced so much disruption of their lives from Western agents that they may be willing to incur extraordinary risks to rid themselves of Empire agents, their puppet governments, and their mercenary "jihadist" terrorists.
I am no weapons expert, but I believe that Syria has quite sophisticated weapons that can inflict real damage on the US fleet in the Mediterranean. Because Empire directors and their military strategists have operated militarily with impunity since WWII, they have become so addicted to a sense of power which may cause them to underestimate the will and the means of Syrians and others in the region to fight back. If the US does go ahead with plans of a limited military strike, it could very well escalate into a dangerous conflagration. Empire directors are truly playing with fire this time.
On this theme read the piece entitled "Obama is Playing With Fire in Syria" by Ibrahim Kazerooni and Rob Prince from CounterPunch.