Boots On The Ground In Egypt: Trading One Dictator For Another

Revolution. It’s a funny word when you think about it. In political terms, ‘revolution’ conjures images of heroes battling tyrants, of all-out forcible insurrection in the name of freedom and change.

From a celestial perspective, however, ‘revolution’ denotes one complete orbit of a planetary body around its center, as in the earth’s revolution around the sun. In other words, after a revolution, you end up right back where you started.

Same word, two completely different meanings– on one hand you have change, and on the other you have more of the same. This is exactly what has happened after Egypt’s revolution this year.

Sure, Hosni Mubarak is now standing trial after 3-decades of looting and pillaging his country’s wealth. For most Egyptians, this is viewed as a major victory; there is a feeling of intense optimism here on the streets of Cairo, and even though nothing is fundamentally different, expectations are high.

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