Egypt’s new start

by Editor · February 23, 2011

The popular pressure that has, in some cases, led to the collapse of autocratic regimes in the Arab world has been compared to revolutions that brought on the sudden collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989. Certainly the events of 2011, like those in 1989, are geopolitical game-changers.

Egypt and the Arab world will not be quite the same again, even if some repressive regimes withstand the discontent of their citizens. The people in the region have found their voice. They demand to be heard and to be accounted to.

The countries that divest themselves of autocratic rule are now rebuilding their political society from a blank canvass, at least in as far as past experiences of political administration are concerned. In Egypt particularly, this new beginning will present a challenge to the powerful military, which will want to balance its own interests with those of the people (who themselves will have many different and perhaps irreconcilable expectations).

Whatever happens in Egypt and whichever direction the country�s new rulers may take, other Arab countries will be profoundly affected by it.

It is reasonable to expect that fundamentalist Islam will make an effort to impose a theocratic alternative to democracy. It is unlikely that the military will countenance that, but it seems inevitable that the new system in Cairo will loosen the country�s strings to the United States and take a new course of direction in its relations with Israel, which had long benefited from a strategic partnership with the deposed president, Hosni Mubarak. Indeed, it is said that part of the discontent with Mr Mubarak resided in his deeply unpopular Israel policy.

Israel must prepare itself for new geopolitical realities. We must hope that its response will be pragmatic, and that its iron will of self-preservation will find expression not in aggression, but in a serious willingness to work towards a just and lasting peace in the region�a motivation Israel has consistently shown to be lacking as long as it could count on Egypt�s collaboration.

A move towards greater structural Islamisation in Egypt and elsewhere would be bad news for the region�s already embattled Christians. It is welcome that Egypt�s powerful Muslim Brotherhood is maintaining its relatively moderate position, calling for a secular government.

Egypt�s Christians, who make up 10% of the country�s population, suffered much discrimination and violent attacks under Mr Mubarak�s rule.

In January, Mr Mubarak withdrew his ambassador to the Vatican in protest against Pope Benedict�s call for the protection of Egypt�s Christians.

Pope Benedict�s comment was not controversial. He rightly noted: �In the Middle East, Christians are original and authentic citizens who are loyal to their fatherland and assume their duties towards their country.� We must pray that the new leadership in Egypt and elsewhere will acknowledge that.

There are hopeful signs. During the protests in Cairo and elsewhere, Muslims and Christians formed protective cordons around one another to fend off violence, and Muslims have guarded Christian churches after they were attacked.

Not too much should be read into the failure by the Christian leadership to side with the protesters; most Muslim leaders also declined to take sides in the protests. Egypt�s religious leadership is not generally expected to provide political guidance.

It will be crucial that in the recalibration of Egyptian (and Arab) politics the Christian communities succeed in securing equitable minority rights. In this endeavour the contribution of the Catholic Church will be crucial.

Perhaps more than any other denomination, the Catholic Church has developed a working (albeit fragile) relationship with Islam. The Church must insist that religious freedom be embraced under new Arab leaderships, just as Muslims enjoy broad religious freedoms in traditionally Christian countries.