The painful birth of Arab democracy - FT.com:
"As Egypt’s experiment with democracy came to a bloody end this week, so too did the last hopes for the Arab spring. The illusion that the people’s revolutions which swept the region two years ago would usher in a new era of democratic freedom and cordial relations with the west was shattered when Egyptian soldiers opened fire on Egyptian citizens.
Responsibility for democracy’s failure in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and beyond is widely shared. Counter-revolutionary forces yield power reluctantly. Islamist and liberal forces have yet to learn the rules of democratic engagement. Hard work, organisation and policies are required for democracy to succeed, rather than simple protest. Finally, echoes of the west’s historical ambivalence to the emergence of democratic expression in the Middle East still resonate. Many of the revolutions were against vile autocratic regimes supported by the west as the best safeguard for oil interests and the state of Israel."
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