Egypt Protests: Who is Mohamed ElBaradei?

The relentless Egypt Protests have created a very real possibility of the Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year-old regimes’ departure and possibility of Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei. But can this former nuclear inspector be anything more than a very efficient bureaucrat?

As the Egypt Protests have shown absolutely no sign of waning off, Mubarak’s presidency has been shaken to its core. With Egyptian Military sitting on the fence, choosing not to go outright to Mubarak’s defence, the regime’s fate has more or less been sealed (as pointed out by this blog when the whole drama began). Enter Mohamed ElBaradei. Over the last few days ElBaradei has emerged as the symbol of hope and democracy in the country and is likely candidate to succeed Mubarak. However, doubts to his leadership qualities remain.

A Somber Note on Egypt Protests

French revolutionary, Antoine de Saint-Just once said, “To dare: that is the whole secret of revolutions.” Well, the people of Egypt have dared. 

Anger that burned Mohamed Bouazizi – a Tunisian fruit vendor, no less – to ashes has now engulfed millions across the Arab world. Millions are out in streets of Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan and many other nations, demanding a change – a change to better their lives. Men of power, who have been used to obedience and subservience for decades, see the fabric of their authority unraveling in front of their eyes. Outside their palaces and headquarters, men and women have assumed the label of “general populace,” devoid of any religious or ideological beliefs. It is as if the entire complex and intricate network of titles, professions, allegiances and beliefs that hold a country together has been suspended until further notice.

The spectacle of these protests has been nothing short of awesome. The passion and excitement of Egyptians, which exudes promise of a Brave New World can be felt by anyone, no matter how far away one is from Middle East. It is a promise that people - not armies, political parties, corporations, interest groups, alliances, positions, wealth or religion but just people, naked of all the paraphernalia – do matter. 

Of course, tomorrow, a week from now or may be a month later, the protests will be over. May be the dictatorships will go away silently into the night, to be replaced by new ones almost instantly; maybe they won’t. May be decade-long civil wars will begin; may be a few executions will suffice to return to order. And yes, maybe, just maybe, the unthinkable will happen and a just and effective leader will actually emerge.

And then: There will be geo-strategic and regional power balances to worry about. New political coalitions will have to be built and ethnic electorates will have to be considered. Careers, petty feuds, love affairs will once again take precedence over the revolution. Status quo, wearing new clothing or the same old garb, will return.

But till it returns, let us revel in the thrill of witnessing something incredible. Something that is extremely rare. A manifestation of chaos inspired by millions in a completely spontaneous fashion, expressing rage, hope and frustration- a true people’s revolution. 

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Vodafone suspends service in Egypt in an attempt to shutdown the protests

World’s largest mobile telecom service crumbles in front of a regime that seems to have no support from its own people or government machinery, despite the fact that Vodafone Egypt accounts for about 0.4% of the Vodafone's worldwide revenue. Why so fast, is all we ask?

As the Egypt Protests enter their fourth day (if you don’t know about it, first read this), Vodafone Egypt announced its intention to comply with Egyptian authorities who demanded its suspension of service. Along with the two other internet providers, Vodafone’s suspension of service has virtually cutoff the country from the rest of the world. According to BBC technology correspondent Mark Gregory, "[V]irtually the entire internet infrastructure of an electronically sophisticated nation has been switched off… This is believed to be the first time a government has engineered an almost complete shutdown of electronic communications to deal with political dissent.” 

All you need to know about Arab World Protests: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Jordan

The entire Arab region is engulfed in popular uprisings sparked by the success of Tunisian Revolution. And it is all happening at lightning-fast speed, fuelled by Social Media and angry emotions. Here is a quick and dirty introduction to why and how this is happening.

Today hundreds of thousands of protesters are on the streets in capitals around Arab region, protesting for removal of incompetent dictators and governments. Starting from Tunisia, the anger has spread like wild fire and is constantly being fed by Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Overnight, dictators, who have ruled their countries for decades, are finding their position shaken. But for rest of the world, it is difficult to understand how a region that has not seen a government overthrow since 1979, is witnessing so many revolutions at once. Here is the explanation.

As had been pointed out by this blog, some time before these protests began, the catalyst for all of them is the rising food prices, unemployment and inflation, which has left these poverty-stricken countries in deep crisis. And to top it all off, each country had its own political baggage to exacerbate the anger. Here is how it all began.

Protests in Egypt: Military will be the key for Mubarak’s survival

While the Egyptian protests enter third day, many are expecting country’s 29-year-old dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak to fall. However, it will finally be Military’s decision to let regime fall or not.

Within a month, another Arab country has come under widespread political unrest following the Tunisian model of popular protests. While half-hearted attempts of protests against the corrupt and oppressive Egyptian regime had been going on since the successful Tunisian Revolution earlier this month, massive showdown began on 25 January, when the protesters organized themselves on Facebook.

Moscow Airport Bombing: Expect Putin’s revenge

Yesterday’s suicide blast at the Moscow Airport may hit Vladimir Putin’s popularity in an election year. Chechnya can expect old-school collective punishment and heavy-handed violence as Kremlin’s reaction to the attack.

The Moscow Airport Suicide Blast that killed 35 39 38 more than 35 people and injured more than 100 has shaken Russian Premier Vladimir Putin’s popularity. The Russian Government, which is supposed to be tough and strong and in the business of “dragging terrorists out from sewers”, failed to stop second major attack in Moscow within a year. While, Putin was able to coast along after the Moscow Subway Bombing in March 2010, he may have to do some political damage control this time; damage control that may involve air bombings and massive roundups.

For Dummies: Erik Prince, Mercenaries and Somali Pirates

Monday Backgrounder For Dummies is a DoT feature that discusses a new topic every week giving the reader basic knowledge about the subject so that you can pretend to know things without reading a newspaper. With Erik Prince causing buzz around the world over his possible involvement with mercenary fighting Somali Pirates, it seems a good time to talk about Blackwater and Erik Prince.

Note: there is no way to talk about Blackwater without sounding like a rant coming from a ultra-left conspiracy theorist. Unfortunately, the following stuff is true. 

In case you missed it: Last week, it was reported that a mercenary company, Saracen International, is putting together massive operations in Somalia to take on what American and European governments failed to- Somali Piracy. And to complicate the matters, the man behind it all is Erik Prince, the founder of controversial Blackwater, the private security company, infamous for the role of its mercenaries in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Weekend Siesta

Nothing special to report, except the leaked photographs of Putin's Palace and how they nailed 9/11 master mind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for journalist Daniel Peals Beheading by some super technology.

The Circle of Life Comic is up, its about the village that they wiped out in Afghanistan. If you are in the mood, you can also read my guest post on techmonks - 5 Addendums to The Nerd Handbook. It is intended for the significant others of nerds and is a good read for anyone trying dive into the mind of nerds.

Have a happy weekend.

Holy crap! They wiped out the entire village…literally

US Military-led unit wipes out an Afghan village off the map. Whatever happened to winning “hearts and minds” strategy

Imagine coming home from an out-of-town trip and find that not only your house but your entire village doesn’t exist anymore. That’s one of the side-effects if the American Army decides to drop 25 tons of explosives on your village.

Dear MHA, there is something called email…

The story of how Indian Postal Department caused political crisis by losing a letter.

This happened last month, but it is too hilarious to miss out on. On 24 December, the Minister of Home Affairs sent a letter to the West Bengal Chief Minister asking him to shutdown the illegal political militia Harmad Vahini (more on that below). The letter was sent through speed post, but the Indian Postal Department, being the Indian Postal Department, didn’t deliver the letter until 27 December.

Meanwhile, the letter had been already leaked to the press and an anonymous MHA official was quoted wondering why the West Bengal Government wasn’t responding (hinting it had something to hide). Given that CPI (M)-run West Bengal Government and Congress-led Central Government are not exactly on best of terms since their fallout a couple of years ago, the three extra days gave New Delhi ample of time to snipe at West Bengal government and the latter couldn’t respond while not in possession of the letter.

Dyslexic Media: All this huff and puff over Hu?

American Media arranges a political hit job on Chinese President, Hu Jintao prior to his arrival to Washington. 

Mr. President, this is what they are ready to offer for Arizona.

Today, The New York Times and Washington Post ran stories about how Hu Jintao is politically weak and is hardly able to control his own government. A scary thought. Only, it reeks too much of a conspiracy theory coming out of a country that was just shown king-sized finger by Hu Jintao’s regime...