An Egyptian coup d'état

The recent violence in Egypt surrounding the removal of their Islamist President ties in nicely to the discussion topics for this week. After several were killed and over 260 people injured, the new Egyptian government is appointing their leaders. Unfortunately, as with any coup, there are two (or more) different sides to the argument, each with different views and opinions.

Political Violence in Egypt

Political Violence in Egypt

In the past year Egypt has fallen into a state of political unrest.  It wasn't long ago that the former President Hosni Mubarak was over thrown to issue in a new era of politics in Egypt.  Muhammad Morsi has been in power since 2011, but recently the military has forced him out of power sparking a new round of political violence.  The situation in Egypt has been very unstable ever since the Arab spring and the Morsi administration has been largely ineffectual and with political instability comes political violence.  Egypt is not an exception.

Just a couple of days ago killed 7 more Morsi supporters that tried to stage a sit in at Cairo University.  There have been several clashes between police, Morsi supports, and Morsi disinters.  Just a week ago 50 supports were killed after a clash with army troops.  The Muslim Brotherhood , the party that backed Morsi claims that live ammunition was used against protesters. 

This is a very crucial time in the political history of Egypt and the region as a whole.  It is important that peace and stability be returned to Egypt, but it is also important that a democratically elected leader is at the helm of the Egyptian government.  

To add a twist to this internal conflict is the role that the United States has allegedly played.  The White House continues to walk the line between classifying the current unrest in Egypt as a coup.  Many have speculated that the US has been involved with the overthrow from the beginning.  It is true that the US has never been comfortable with the Morsi government and the US has supported coups around the world.  While the US has yet to publicly back the new military government, they have also refused to classify what happened to be a coup.  This is because the US is required to support any democratically elected leader against a military coup.

Egypt's Revolution

Egypt’s Revolution

After last year’s revolution in Egypt, the transition has been anything but smooth, culminating in the military coup that occurred on July 3^rd.  After the Arab Spring, the country held an election to determine its new leader. However, the election was only representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, and therefore “democratically” elected Muhammad Morsi. In the aftermath, the military coup remains in power, but the struggle for who will assume power after the revolution remains a highly contentious matter.