The last thing Arab seculars wanted was for an Islamist to be elected as president of Egypt. Having said that, Mohammed Morsi's victory is a glorious day in Arab history -- a benchmark for Arab democracy.
There is nothing "sublime" about what is happening in Egypt. The question which should be asked, therefore, is what went wrong, and what mistakes might have led to the current situation.
Can Egypt now leave its recent dark times behind and reclaim its past glory? Can it make history again?
I've heard this sentiment echoed since the first day I arrived in Cairo last May, where I lived for eight months. I was picked up at the airport by an Egyptian student, Refaat, who said upon hearing that I was Iranian-American: "I love Ahmadinejad."
Completed in just the last few weeks, Words of Witness has a remarkable timeliness and immediacy in depicting the contending forces that are challenging Egypt's journey to democracy.
How exactly do you convince a population that's energized by having at long last deposed a dictator to hold off on elections until the conditions are right? Who decides what those conditions are and when they are present in sufficient strength?
Revolutions are not events but processes. These processes are long, conflictual, fraught with sudden leaps forward and discouraging retreats. But nothing says that things will not happen in Egypt at this dawn of the 21st century as they have in other great countries.
When Sudan was debating the terms of its independence, many Arab Sudanese argued for a union with Egypt, their fellow sons of the Nile. And now, it seems, each is holding what may be its most important demonstrations to date.
Tourism is a business involving a billion people a year meeting several other billion people whose lives they profoundly affect economically and socia...
Morsi's victory is testimony to the Brotherhood's ability to mobilize Egyptians against a deeply entrenched political system, and to convince Egyptians that its candidate was the most capable of taking the helm after Mubarak's removal from power.
With both candidates claiming victory, irrespective of whoever emerges victorious, the outcome of the election promises to increase volatility and unrest rather than put Egypt back on a path towards political stability.
One thing is clear from the incredible events that have taken place in Cairo in recent days: Egypt's popular revolution has been abducted by unelected military officers.
Bassem had been a fan of The Daily Show since he first saw it while on a visit to the United States a few years earlier. He longed for an Egyptian version of the show, but that would have been impossible prior to the revolution.
Though the military promised a transition to democracy through a three-stage election process, it has now delegitimized its own proposed process, proving the elections were nothing more than a charade.
While revolutionary Egyptians have set for the whole world an example of courage and sacrifice for the sake of freedom and dignity, the tame citizens have not understood the revolution and did not need it. In fact, they do not deserve it.