Egypt and the Future of the Corporate Grid

[ProgressiveMuslim]

0 Feb 01 2011 by Samah Selim

Many analysts have been commenting on the broader significance of the astonishing and awe-inspiring events that have swept Egypt by storm over the past six days. From Tunisia to Yemen, the Arab world is in open revolt against the sclerotic, corrupt and vicious dictatorships that have held power with the tacit support of the US and EU for decades. The status quo in the region – in the form of received wisdom about ‘the Arab street’, the Islamist ‘menace’ and business-as-usual in the corridors of corporate and political power whether in Washington DC or Cairo – has shattered into pieces once and for all. But the significance of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is not limited to the Arab world, or even the Middle East. Not since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the ouster of Suharto by a popular revolution in Indonesia in 1998 has the world witnessed the sheer, breathtaking power of unarmed revolutionary masses in action – and this in a region whose image has been carefully crafted for decades by politicians and media pundits as a stagnating backwater of opportunism and quiescence. The world is watching in awe - and anxiety - because, in these rare moments of unmediated and massive social upheaval, the naked power of the national security state is on show for all to see, in all its violence and unmitigated brutality. One of the things that makes Egypt different from Indonesia in 1998 of course is the rise of social media and the unprecedented ability of the regime in power to completely shut down domestic and international communication through its coordinated assault on the internet and wireless and mobile phone networks. We have heard much in the last couple of years about the pivotal role of social media in popular uprisings from Eastern Europe to Iran, but perhaps what we have not yet fully contemplated are the future global ‘security’ implications of network and wireless communications technology.

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http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/510/egypt-and-the-future-of-the-corporate-grid

[Violet_Crumble]

1. There's no doubt at all the revolution is a secular one...

I've seen all sorts of stuff about how it'll be the Iranian Revolution v2, with the Muslim Brotherhood taking over, but I doubt that very much. There's a lot of scaremongering from supporters of Mubarek, and I'm pretty sure right now the Muslim Brotherhood and other extremists would be hoping that Mubarek keeps his hold on power and the dictatorship continues, as the likes of Mubarek are their greatest recruiting tool. A secular democracy isn't going to be inspiring anyone much to look to them for anything...