Western anxiety ill-advised
February 10, 2026 3:35 PM
Like millions of people around the world, I have been following the goings-on in Egypt (and Tunisia and Yemen and Jordan) with, if not exactly bated breath, a considerable amount of trepidation over the last week or so.
The Egyptian protests, if that word even applies anymore to this phenomenon, were sparked on Jan. 25 after similar protests in Tunisia reached a tipping point.
But instead of slowly building, without much Western attention, for four long weeks before exploding on the news stream and swiftly disappearing, as in Tunisia, the Egyptian protests started and have stayed front and centre on the global radar.
The protesters began by focusing on large social issues, like poverty and underemployment, but swiftly became focused on the long-serving Hosni Mubarak, who has been Egypt’s president for 30 years.
The vast majority of protesters have, for over two weeks, gathered peacefully in Cairo and Alexandria, Mahalla and Giza, shouting slogans, waving signs, singing and praying together in Muslim and Coptic traditions alike.
Protesters have been seen by reporters calming each other down when emotions ran hot, banding together to protect weaker or injured allies, and even forming human chains around pro-Mubarak agents provocateurs to deliver them, uninjured, to the soldiers surrounding the protests.
On Sunday in Tahrir Square, the main site of protests in Cairo, a crowd of reportedly hundreds of thousands of people gathered peacefully, making their way through army checkpoints on bridges and in narrow streets.
The more violent pro-Mubarak demonstrators did not show up on camel- and horseback, carrying Molotov cocktails and meat cleavers, as they had on certain days last week; the peaceful determination of the protesters had, at least for the moment, won out.
Some of these protesters, according to Al Jazeera English, have been in Tahrir Square since the demonstrations began in late January.
They camp out on blankets; food and water is brought to them by other volunteers. The impression given, in interviews with protesters at the scene, is that they have no intention of leaving or backing down until their major demand is met– that Mubarak immediately cede power.
Mubarak, for his part, has said he will not run for re-election; his son, widely seen as a succession figure, has pledged the same.
Even so, at the time of writing, Mubarak has given no indication that he is planning on stepping down any sooner than September.
Countries around the world, and by that I mostly mean Western powers, have spoken out in favour of a transition to a more open democracy in Egypt.
Many governments, including those of Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., have openly pressured Mubarak to step down and allow a transition to happen immediately.
Complicating the situation, at least in the States, is the small matter of the U.S.’ annual $1.3 billion donation to Egypt and its military forces - the soldiers keeping the peace are armed with weapons made in the U.S. America’s interest in Egypt runs deeper than simple pro-democracy sentiment.
The West, arguably led by the United States, has also been expressing insistent concern over the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood, an “outlawed Islamist organization” according to the New York Times, could attempt to take control over Egypt during the political turmoil.
This has predictably created badly-hidden panic in certain Western circles, as the tenuous balance in the Middle East appears to be threatened.
However, Egyptians themselves seem little concerned that the Muslim Brotherhood, which has stated that it will not field any presidential candidates when the time comes, is a serious threat.
In a column for the New York Times, reporter Nicolas Kristof describes asking Egyptian women and Coptic Christians if they were worried about an extremist group gaining power in Egypt, and how the looks they gave him for “doubting democracy” caused him to “retreat in embarrassment,” or at least want to.
“They might win 25 per cent of the votes, but if they do not perform then they will not get votes the next time,” said Sherine, one of the protesters Kristof interviewed. Thus faith in real democracy holds.
The protesters in Egypt are acting according to their consciences: they are peaceful, moderate, and tolerant, protecting their own for the good of all Egyptians, and they are, with many signs written in English as well as Arabic, very aware of the world’s eyes on them.
We should support the pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt, absolutely. But we should support no action that does not originate with the Egyptian people.
We should impose no ‘solutions’ onto their ‘problems;’ we should not be panicked, on their supposed behalf, over whether they will choose their next leader wisely or prudently.
If we believe in democracy, and we do, possibly to a fault, we should let it flourish in Egypt like we imagine it flourishes at home: electing not always the best candidate, but always in the name of the people.
With information from the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Al Jazeera English.
