Over the weekend, Egypt’s new Islamist President (I could write his name, but would it matter? We’d all forget it in two seconds and I don’t know that his name is as important as his political ideas which skew ultra-religious and rigid) ousted a few top military leaders from power. This is seen as a purging of the old guard, of “freeing” people from the complicit officials that helped Hosni Mubarak hold on to power for so long.
But I’m not so sure. I think this may be a dictatorial wolf in populist clothing. See, the Egyptian military establishment—–at least the very top, the old guard—–is about the only check on the Egyptian president’s (and the Muslim Brotherhood’s) growing power. I don’t think he’s ousting them as part of a concession to democracy-advocates that are uncomfortable with their continued influence, so much as solidifying his own grip on power, taking out the only people that can curb his influence.
The Middle-East is never exactly what it seems. A ruthless dictator can also be a stable leader and sectarian centrist while a democratically-elected populist can morph into an even more ruthless, theocrat fascist faster than you can see it happen. A refreshing “new” political movement can all-too-often become exactly what they were meant to replace, and, I hate to say it, but I think that’s exactly what’s happening in Egypt now. The Muslim Brotherhood is quietly building power, the best way to limit resistance, until there are no voices left to challenge them. Because in the Middle-East, now more than ever, the future is looking an awful lot like the past.