Okay, Mubarek has stepped down, and everyone is busy congratulating themselves and each other. Perhaps Bush deserves some credit, but few other American politicians do. Oh, and suddenly Obama is encouraging Iranian protestors? Yeah, that’s a couple years too late.
Anyway, yes, Egypt’s dictatorship is toppled (and it’s looking like Algieria and Yemen might be next), but what comes after? One big problem is that the area is still a hotbed of Islamofascism, antisemitism, and outright racial and religious based violence – and the factions based off of those are among the strongest vying to fill the gap – and even if the reforms end up being democratic, that may continue, or even get worse.
On the other hand, perhaps the best sign of where things may go is that the protesters have cared about things like keeping the streets clean of trash.
