When the 2011 revolution happened, I was in prison, with very little access to information. Nevertheless, I tried to get messages out to Islamist leaders any way I could…
Letter dated March 22 2011 (Sharjah Central Prison)
…The removal of Mubarak, while welcome, is not the undoing of the system. My guess would be that multinational corporations and financial institutions will be quick to take advantage of the situation. I’m afraid the protesters and the Muslim Brotherhood will be too preoccupied with political discussions and lose sight of economic issues. I would argue that while Mubarak surely had a huge amount of power, the ruling elite of Egypt are mostly beyond the pale of civilian government. They don’t hold office and they are still there and any government that gets formed will be subject to them. The revolution may actually crack Egypt open to let in the full force of the Multinationals which Mubarak’s personal greed and old fashioned corruption probably hindered to some extent.
There are 2 distinct issues here. One is the end of Mubarak, which I don’t think bothers anyone important. And two, the mass mobilization of the people; and this bothers everybody.
The chaotic way these two things occurred will lead to, I think, a worse situation. The military taking over, in any way you look at it, is not in the people’s interest and will only fortify the power system…
… People cannot endure long periods of turmoil and uncertainty. They’ll revert back to docility and submission for the sake of stability. And when the established authority reasserts control it will undoubtedly punish the population for having ever challenged it.