The recent spate of violence and civil unrests seen so far among a few Arab countries just symbolizes how so much has changed over the years as far as citizen's needs, expectations and desires are concerned. Sadly though,there's very little to write home about the leadership, not just among the Arab countries which are North of the Sahara desert, but the whole African continent as a whole. According to studies conducted by World Bank, over 40% of the Egyptian population lives on less than a dollar a day (an international standard for measuring poverty levels) which translates to upwards of 32million of the over 80million people living inside Egypt. Food prices have also sky rocketed with unemployment figures continuing to rise each day. Now, while all this is happening, Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak is busy solidifying power by grooming his successor, which mostly is believed to be his own son to take over the reigns of power after his father is long gone.
A lot of people are attributing these unrests to the recent events among their neighbors in Tunisia where people-power forced their president Ben Ali out of power which made him flee to Saudi Arabia for cover. A closer scrutiny and study of the Arab world and economy would tell you that this was something expected sooner or later, more or less like a powder keg that needed ignition and the Tunisian situation was just it. All these countries are endowed with various natural resources like oil and gas, yet the benefits are concentrated among a few elite groups. A recent CNN footage in the former Tunisian president's mansion, showed that the president and his family lived in a totally different world, eating imported sea food like tuna yet the average Tunisian on the streets can't afford a square meal a day. When the pressure was too much, something had to give and Tunisians across all the political divide had had enough and it was time for change.
Egypt is a key US ally concerning middle eastern politics and the war on terrorism, but Washington must understand that the desires of the global community cannot and should not surpass those of the ordinary Egyptian. Mubarak has been in power for over 3 decades due to their archaic constitution which doesn't have limits on the maximum number of terms one ought to serve, yet there's very little to show for it in terms of the transformations of people's lives. We are living in a completely different dispensation where geographical boundaries have completely been shuttered by globalization and the power of the internet, which calls for corporation in terms of issues like trade, security etc. The world is also moving at very faster pace thus people like Mubarak from the old school who prefer taking things slowly while maintaining the status-quo using the constitution would be swept by the winds of change.
Such people (and there are many in that list including uncle Bob), ought to relinquish power to the younger and more agile generation who are connected and affected by the daily problems that afflict the hoi polloi. Anything short of that would result in more chaos until their needs are met. But the question that is on everyone's mind is that, where is it gonna happen next? I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
