I’m leaving for work this morning, watching the television news when the screen changes to Egypt and the word that something big is happening in Cairo. Momentarily the reporter on the scene turns to the camera and said something like “I have never seen anything like this, something really big is happening right now.” Then after watching a little more, he comes back and tentatively reports that President Mubarak had resigned.
Folks, this is one of those good news/bad news situations. It is good because the protesters got what they wanted. It’s bad because nobody knows what comes next. In my view, there are more unanswered questions now than before.
So I check my email at work and I am scanning the news on the internet this morning and a video comes up about expatriate Egyptians in New York City. It gets me thinking about all the Egyptians that have left their homeland because Mubarak denied them the freedom they could get in America. How many of them came to our country to experience all the benefits of a free society and now have an opportunity to go home and help shape the political process in Egypt?
Leadership in our country should be gathering as many of those expatriate Egyptians as they can to help them create a framework for a government they can share with their friends and relatives back in Egypt. To set up resources for Egyptians to use that will enable them to make informed decisions about their options.
If Social Media gets the credit for starting the revolution, Social Media can have the same impact in stabilizing the country after the fact.
Americans will not determine the future for Egypt, Egyptians will. We need to make sure that those who value what Western Style government can offer have every opportunity to share their views and have a seat at the table.
There have been “Opposition” leaders in Egypt in the past that have been imprisoned for their political views. Do any of them have tendencies supportive of both democratic style of government and “pro-western” interests that appeal to Egyptians in the square? Let’s get the bloggers and twitterers working to get it started.
Our government’s job should be to help Egyptians explore their options. Our job should be to empower Egyptians in our country and other Western countries to have a voice in their homeland.
The final outcome of this whole process will have repercussions around the world. The “butterfly effect” of events taking place in Egypt will be earth shaking. We need to watch carefully.
Posted on February 11, 2011 at 10:25 am in Political commentary | RSS feed
|
Reply |
Trackback URL
No Loss for Words
What’s Next for Egypt?
by Steve DanaI’m leaving for work this morning, watching the television news when the screen changes to Egypt and the word that something big is happening in Cairo. Momentarily the reporter on the scene turns to the camera and said something like “I have never seen anything like this, something really big is happening right now.” Then after watching a little more, he comes back and tentatively reports that President Mubarak had resigned.
Folks, this is one of those good news/bad news situations. It is good because the protesters got what they wanted. It’s bad because nobody knows what comes next. In my view, there are more unanswered questions now than before.
So I check my email at work and I am scanning the news on the internet this morning and a video comes up about expatriate Egyptians in New York City. It gets me thinking about all the Egyptians that have left their homeland because Mubarak denied them the freedom they could get in America. How many of them came to our country to experience all the benefits of a free society and now have an opportunity to go home and help shape the political process in Egypt?
Leadership in our country should be gathering as many of those expatriate Egyptians as they can to help them create a framework for a government they can share with their friends and relatives back in Egypt. To set up resources for Egyptians to use that will enable them to make informed decisions about their options.
If Social Media gets the credit for starting the revolution, Social Media can have the same impact in stabilizing the country after the fact.
Americans will not determine the future for Egypt, Egyptians will. We need to make sure that those who value what Western Style government can offer have every opportunity to share their views and have a seat at the table.
There have been “Opposition” leaders in Egypt in the past that have been imprisoned for their political views. Do any of them have tendencies supportive of both democratic style of government and “pro-western” interests that appeal to Egyptians in the square? Let’s get the bloggers and twitterers working to get it started.
Our government’s job should be to help Egyptians explore their options. Our job should be to empower Egyptians in our country and other Western countries to have a voice in their homeland.
The final outcome of this whole process will have repercussions around the world. The “butterfly effect” of events taking place in Egypt will be earth shaking. We need to watch carefully.
Rate this:
Share this:
Related
Posted on February 11, 2011 at 10:25 am in Political commentary | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL