Is Egypt headed for a Syria-esque civil war?

Democracy doesn’t even work in America, why would it work anywhere else?

Well, does democracy have to be perfect in order for it to “work”? It’s not perfect in America, but we don’t seem to have coups and violent crackdowns the way Egypt does.

@DominicX Not anymore, but we had violent crackdowns in the 60’s against racial segregation , and the riots in Toronto two years ago, maybe democracy takes time

That’s what I’m hoping, at least. Today’s actions were definitely a big backward step, unfortunately.

I really hope not, but it looks like terrible unrest at the moment. My mum and her partner have just flown to Egypt on holiday today. Thank goodness they are nowhere near Cairo, but I still worry. Being from Northern Ireland, I should know better!

Democracy only works if all the voters share a fundamentally similar view of the role of government.
The more that view diverges, the more democracy runs a risk of becoming a suicide pact.

That happened in Egypt. The Egyptian military has a tradition of safe guarding a more secular role of government than the Islamic Brotherhood had in mind.

BTW. If the USA by some moronic lapse in judgment, happened to elect an Islamist, or another Pol Pot, or Stalin as president, I would hope the military would do the right thing. If I were still active, I would be part of doing the right thing.

I suspect that what will emerge is not civil war but another military dictatorship. But there’s always hope that the military will actually hold a new round of elections. Last time they did, the Muslim Brotherhood was very well organized. Being outlawed, they had been quietly working for 70 years out of sight to get ready for the day when they could seize power and set up Sharia law and strict Islamist rule. Their opposition far outnumbered them, but was fractured and never came together to deny them a victory. Maybe on a do-over, they will see that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and they will mount a united front to keep Egypt secular.

Egypt is unique among Arab states. The population is reasonably well educated and they have a middle and upper middle class. There will be a large portion of their population who will do whatever is necessary to avoid sliding into all-out civil war. Sadly though, the Muslim Brotherhood is strong there, and they welcome and lust for war to kill all the infidels, even their own Muslim brothers and sisters who don’t bow to Mecca in exactly the right way or share the in-group Islamist beliefs they espouse.

@josie If our democratic constitutional republic is ever threatened, it won’t be by the introduction of Sharia or by a Communist, it will be the American version of the Taliban, the Christian Right, that will undo the secular state our founding fathers, all men of The Enlightenment, instituted. Sinclair Lewis didn’t actually say, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” but whoever did say it was right.

I think @ETpro has pretty much nailed both the upcoming events in Eygpt and in the US.