Abstract
The 2011 revolution in Egypt saw the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and the end of his thirty years rule of Egypt. His overthrow was partly facilitated by the military which soon appointed an interim President. Democratic elections the next year saw the election of Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood. But he was in power for only a year when a military coup deposed him. Ever since Egypt had under been a military rule with General Sisi as its current president. Egypt has long been a country which has been ruled by military strongmen and is a country where the military has numerous powers and is involved heavily in the economy as well. It also enjoys a legitimate power to rule given by the people and is largely seen as an efficient and corrupt free organization. Given this scenario the thesis attempts to find out the reasons behind the military’s interference in Egyptian politics as well as the reasons for the overwhelming support it enjoys
The Revolution in Egypt and the Role of the Military
“The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure (Jefferson 2012) .”
-Thomas Jefferson
These words of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of America and a principal contributor to the American Declaration of Independence ring true to this date. There have been revolutions all over the world where an existing structure or a government has been brought down to herald new changes. Revolutions can be violent or peaceful and can happen in a short duration of time or go on for a long time. Aristotle in ‘The Politics’ describes two kinds of revolutions-one that changes and existing constitution and the other that heralds a new constitution (Aristotle 2009). Revolution can thus be described as an overthrow of the existing power structure or a political or economic system by violent or peaceful means and which can happen in a short time or go on for a while. There have been numerous revolutions around the world-The french revolution, The American revolution and the Russian revolution were not only about the overthrow of existing power structures but also about bringing in new ways of governance. The Bill of rights, the abolition of monarchy and the introduction of human rights are some of the beneficial results of these revolutions. Revolutions are almost always a result of popular people’s protests. People dissatisfied with the governing body go to the streets to bring in new changes into how they are being ruled. Although revolutions are initially successful, not many can hold on to the success. There have been numerous instances around the world where revolutions after the initial euphoria have died down and the revolutionary government comes to resemble the very structure it had overthrown. Of all the revolutions of this century, the most violent, the most written about and controversial have been those revolutions dubbed as the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring- a series of revolutionary acts that started in Tunisia and that spread throughout the Arab nations was a series of protests, marches and conflicts between the ruling elite and the common people. At its peak the Arab Spring enveloped countries like Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. Protests were also carried out in other Arab countries against their respective governments. These protests succeeded in some countries while in others it just lead to a prolonged conflict that still has not seen an end. Egypt is one of those countries where the revolution was a success. The revolution saw the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak who had been in power for thirty years.
What was different about the Egyptian revolution from that of the revolution in other Arab countries was the support of the military for the protesters on the street. Unlike that of Syria where the state apparatus and the military were in favor of the president in Egypt the military supported the protesters and played an important role in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak’s government. The successful revolution resulted in Hosni Mubarak resigning as president and the announcement on February 11, 2011 that the country would now be governed by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Hosni Mubarak Resigns 2011). Egypt has been ruled by strongmen with a military government ever since its independence. Anwar Sadat, Nasser and Mubarak were all military personnel before they became presidents (Greene 2014). The military in Egypt has always enjoyed respect in the country and a level of autonomy unseen in many countries. Hence when the military took over from Mubarak there were not any protests against the decision. After an interim president was appointed by the military it called for democratic elections and Morsi was elected as the first democratically elected president of Egypt on the 24th of June 2012 (Kirkpatrick 2012).
The election of Morsi however did not put an end to the revolution or the protests against the streets. Morsi came into power amidst huge expectations by the people of Egypt. The economy was in shambles and there were limited jobs and some curtailment of rights for the people under the Mubarak regime. In electing Morsi, they not only needed a change from the Mubarak regime but also wanted the economy to prosper. But Morsi let down the Egyptian people on many levels (Spark 2013). Not only was the economic miracle he promised not possible within a short time, he also went ahead and made changes to the constitution which made him look autocratic and threatened the role of the military both in the economy and the politics of the country (McFeatters 2013). In addition to his unpopular policies he was also accused of supporting terrorist elements within the country as well as outside of Egypt. His support for Al-Qaeda militants inside and outside of Egypt and the appointments of Muslim extremists in the cabinet did not sit well with the people or the military which wanted to put an end to any subversive activities within the country. The military in Egypt has not only taken over power through a coup and disposed of two presidents but is also seen as a legitimate ruler of the country. This makes for an interesting study as not many militaries around the world are strong or wield enough influence over the people to come to power deposing a democratically elected president.
Need for the study
Egypt presents a kind of paradox as it is a country that says a resounding yes for military rule as well as elects a president who leads a conservative Islamic party. Investigation into this paradox will give answers as to why the military is so popular and the important role in plays in the Egyptian politics and society.
Objectives of the Study
The thesis is an attempt to study the defining characteristics of the Egyptian revolution and its military and find out the reasons for the military’s popularity and widespread acceptance in Egypt.
Research questions
Some of the questions this thesis tries to answer are:
What lead to the Egyptian revolution? Was it home grown or was it inspired by the revolutions in the neighboring countries?
What was the role of the military in the Revolution?
Why was there support for the military coup against a democratically elected president of the state?
What makes the military popular and legitimate in the Egyptian society?
Research Methodology
The research uses primary as well as secondary resources. Primary resources consists of newspaper and magazine articles which were published at the time of the revolution, the military takeover, election of Morsi as president and the coup. Secondary sources have been books on the topics of revolution, the history of Egypt, and the role of the military in the country.
References
The Letters of Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826, 2012. Available from: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/. [ 21 april 2015]
Aristotle, 2009. Politics. Available from: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html. [21 April 2015]
Kirkpatrick. D.David, 2012. Named Egypt’s Winner, Islamist makes History. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/world/middleeast/mohamed-morsi-of-muslim-brotherhood-declared-as-egypts-president.html. [21 April 2015]
Greene. A.Richard, 2014. Military rule popular with Egyptians, study finds ahead of vote on constitution. Available from: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/14/world/meast/egypt-military-rule/.[21 April 2015]
Hosni Mubarak Resigns as President, 2011. Available from: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html.[21 April 2015]
Spark, Laura-Smith, 2013. The rise and rapid fall of Egypt's Mohamed Morsy. Available from:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/02/world/meast/egypt-morsy-profile/. [21 April 2015]
McFeatters, Dale, 2014. Morsi Failed to meet Expectations. Available from: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2014/05/197_138692.html. [21 April 2015]
