The entrance of Egypt’s presidential palace in Cairo is in flames Friday, February 1, as protesters battle security forces. Egypt has been embroiled in violence after a series of events last week. There were protests on the two-year anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak’s former regime and deadly clashes after a judge sentenced 21 people to death over a 2012 soccer riot.
Is Egypt the Barometer of Wider Global Change?
The Arab Spring led to governmental and societal changes in several countries. Yet the world’s most populous Arab nation remains in complete turmoil, as ‘change’ at the top seems to have seen little real change for the people. In fact, it seems that their day-to-day lives are even worse.
But are we in the so-called West in any better position? Other than the fact that many of us don’t live in a situation of continual, countrywide violence? In my opinion, we are just as captive to the whims of ‘elite’ leadership and control – those same things the Egyptians are still ‘fighting’ to be free of.
While this article concludes with the statement that revolution usually “gets replaced by more radical elements of society” maybe an altogether more radical shift is actually underway?
