Wednesday July 3, 2013

I've Been Thinking:

Make no mistake - the unrest in Egypt is about a failed leader and his failed economy. Calling it a religious conflict is easy - but wrong.

The rhetoric sometimes relates to religious issues, but the truth is clear and every Egyptian knows it. If there were tourism in Egypt and if natural gas and oil were being exported, there would be some discontent but nothing like this. There would be stragglers protesting in the street, not millions massed in Tahrir Square.

In Egypt right now, it is all about the economy.

We are talking about a country with almost no economy to speak of and a growing debt. Aid can no longer save the Egyptians. They need to produce, they need to export.

Some would argue that the problems in Egypt exist because Morsi is an Islamic leader. I would say that the crisis in Egypt is due to the fact that Mohammed Morsi is a bad and inexperienced leader.

There were high hopes at first. Morsi could have been forward thinking and more inclusive. He could have been a president that embraced public safety. Instead he became a president who polarized.

Polarization was probably the greatest error Morsi made. There is no doubt that in the eyes of the world polarization in Egypt was interpreted as danger and danger means no tourism.

In what we can now called "the good old days," the days before Morsi came to power, Egypt thrived on tourism.

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