The Egyptian Revolution of 2011

To begin, I must congratulate the people of Egypt this evening. Through a non-violent struggle stretching over an 18 day period, they have ended the 30 year regime of Hosni Mubarak. While over 300 individuals have paid the ultimate price, they have not died in vain. They will always be remembered in Egypt's struggle towards democracy after decades of oppression. Today's events however have far reaching affects not only in the Middle East, but also internationally.

Egypt has long been the de facto leader of the Arab World, and while its role during the Mubarak administration diminished in influence, the recent actions have reaffirmed the country's role within the region - that is on top. Ahmadinejad may not be happy about this, but deflating his bubble of self-illusion would be a great service to the globe. It's also likely that this revolution will change Egypt's relationship with the United States. I would expect a significantly reduced American influence in Egyptian life very quickly. The protesters in Cairo and other large cities pleaded for isolationism, and who can blame them? Internal affairs should be dealt with internally. It is only through international pleas that foreign powers should get involved, perhaps in the observation of those upcoming elections.

The only other democracy in the region is Israel, and even then it has been described by the Democracy Index as being "flawed." If Egypt hopes to achieve true democracy, the elections this September in the country must be free and fair. To start, they should follow Tunisia's lead and release political prisoners along with allowing opposition political parties to become registered. It's also likely that numerous constitutional changes will be required for this new Egypt to take hold. The system they choose should reflect the wants of the lower and middle-classes, to avoid future protracted struggles.

Finally, a change to Egypt's social and economic structure is all but guaranteed. During the uprising, Christian and Muslims cooperated in the name of one common goal. In fact, they protected each other during their separate prayer services. It was quite inspiring, to see for once religion uniting individuals, not stirring division. With this, a new religious dialogue could begin soon, perhaps even causing the establishment of secularism. The power is not held by the thin minority of wealth businessmen, military personnel and senior politicians rather hard-working families all across the nation. They have proven it for the past three weeks, and a stable government free of corruption will improve the social standing and financial well-being of the North African nation. Can anyone say "economic boom"?

The events in Egypt, and more generally the Arab World are immense in their change, speed and significance. If this revolution continues, Jordan, Syria and Yemen are likely to be the next nations to seriously challenge their respective governments in much the same reasoning as the Tunisian and Egyptian people: high food prices, unemployment, censorship, corruption, and a lack of political freedom. Whether or not civil unrests similar to those in Tahrir Square since mid-January will take place in Amman, Damascus and Sana'a has yet to be seen, but I wouldn't count it out. I guess the domino theory isn't completely inaccurate...