Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 

This article "Egypt's Bumping Road to Democracy" seems to suggest that the military is one of the most important actors in the Arab Spring that started second in Egypt without denying other major actors (like the Muslim Brotherhood) that seem to weigh heavily in the internal politics of the Middle East, and more particular in Egypt. In Carey's article, one cannot miss the role played by the US and Israel in their support of the Egyptian military to maintain their national security interests. However, there is one point of the article that draws my attention: It is the idea that "the military under the backing of the US and Israel is not going to cede power." The question is: Why has the Egyptian military lost control of the social mobilizations to the extent that Mubarak had to relinquish power? It is no doubt, as many might have argued; the military security complex was one of the key factors that kept stability in the authoritarian Republic of Egypt. Yet, a surprising Arab spring protest undermined its coercive capacity. In my opinion, even if the US and Israel would try to the Egyptian Military in power for a longer period of time; the social mobilizations are there to stay. I agree with the article that radical extremists might rise based upon some contingent factors. But whether we might have social mobilizations mixed of radical extremists or not, I doubt the coercive military apparatus of the State might be able to resist the current Euphoria of the Arab spring protests. Now the US and Israel might have a delicate situation to balance: Be with the pro-democracy crowd or the military dictator like in Pakistan. From what I can understand, there are some ambiguities between the Military and the pretended pro-democracy crowd. What I mean is that I would not undermine the revolutionary mood of the Egyptians and more particularly the Middle Easterners.