Eygpt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eygpt - Essay Example Soon anti-government protests were seen in Egypt, Yemen which later spread to Sudan, Jordan, and Algeria. The protests in Egypt however received international attention, as the country was the most influential, and the most powerful amongst all the Arab nations. On 25th January, thousands of protestors came down on the streets to demonstrate against the authoritative rule, protesting against the President Hosni Mubarak. President Mubarak responded by rearranging his cabinet ministers and appointing Gen. Omar Suleiman as the country’s Vice President, while removing the police department and replacing it with military forces. However, all these changes failed to make any impact on the protestors, and with the military refusing to assist the government, the voices demanding the removal of the President grew louder. At this time, many of the experts labelled this Egyptian revolution as â€Å"a leaderless revolution,† owing to the fact that there were virtually no opposition parties left in Egypt, owing to present regime’s policy of destroying all forms of political opposition, which simply left the banned group, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ as the only organized party, outside the government. At present the opposing groups are being led by Mohamed ElBaradei (a Nobel laureate), and the Muslim Brotherhood. On 1st February 2011, President Mubarak, pledged to his nation that he would not seek another term in the next elections, would act against the corrupt leaders, and would conduct a free election later this year, however whether his pledges have calmed his citizens, yet remains to be seen. The US President Obama, in a press release had asked for â€Å"an orderly transition† in Egypt that â€Å"must begin now†Ã‚  (Jacob, AJC Perspectives: Upheaval in the Arab World, 2011). US involvement in this regards is imperative, as Egypt was always the greatest, and the most dynamic ally of America, amongst the Arab countries. While US ad ministration did not ask President Mubarak to resign immediately, it nevertheless supported the citizens’ endeavours, and called for democracy in Egypt, and declared that it would not stop the annual average $1.5 billion in aid, to the country. As Egypt and other Middle-East nations are slowly inching towards democracy and freedom, Lebanon, has however has taken a regressive step in the backwards direction, with the rise in power of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, which has led to a breakdown in the national coalition government leading to a crisis.   From the above discourse, it is clear that at present, sweeping reforms are taking place in the Middle East countries. These changes promise to transform the nations that have been repressed for many years, under the various dictatorial leaderships, leading to severe oppression of the common man, who was not allowed to express his thoughts and opinions, on any matter related to politics or governance. Reflections: A look back into the history of these regions, will show us that the present oppressive state of affairs, as perceived in the Middle East nations is mainly the result of the 1916 Agreement where both Britain and France, post WWI, strove their best to divide amongst themselves the riches of the destroyed Ottoman Empire. Under the treaty, these two colonial powers divided the empire into parts that â€Å"