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发表于 2011-2-24 09:08:51
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VOX POPULI: Once a hero, Mubarak became a crashing bore
Of all the U.S. secretaries of state, Henry Kissinger is probably the best known in Japan. A scholar of international politics, Kissinger scored many diplomatic coups. But even he was said to have been taken by complete surprise when the Berlin Wall came down. He did not expect German reunification to happen in his lifetime.
Even history's heaviest wheels, apparently stuck fast, can suddenly start turning at a frightening speed. In this Internet-driven age, the force and pace of change can be unlike anything in the past. At the start of this year, how many people could have predicted the collapse of the Egyptian government?
President Hosni Mubarak resigned on Feb. 11. His rule grew increasingly untenable as citizens began filling Cairo's Tahrir Square each Friday, clamoring for his resignation. He has reportedly moved to a luxury Mediterranean resort with his family. He has not fled the country, but his escape from the capital was a rather typical ending for a long-time dictator.
During the Fourth Arab-Israeli War of October 1973, Egypt scored some victories against Israel, and Mubarak was hailed as a hero. When he was elected president in 1981, he had the support of a whopping 98 percent of voters. But while Egypt managed to present a good facade to the rest of the world over the ensuing years, there was apparently no stopping the rot eating away at the nation.
Free speech was thoroughly suppressed while the Mubarak clan avidly pursued their own wealth. Forty percent of young Egyptians today are now out of work. Social disparities, poverty and political corruption are rampant. "Every hero becomes a bore at last," observed the American poet and thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). I believe Mubarak fell into the same trap as many heroes before him, including the great Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821).
Egypt is in for a tough time. History has taught us how difficult it is for political parties to work together once their common enemy is gone. The Nile has blessed Egypt with fertile soil, but I wonder if the nation's "soil" will allow democracy to take root and grow. For the time being, we will just have to watch and wait for further developments, keeping our fingers crossed that we will not see political fragmentation or extremism.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 13
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