Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, "Egypt’s Missed Opportunity": If Pigs Could Fly

The Muslim world is ablaze:

• Dozens died this weekend after Egyptian security forces fired at pro-Morsi demonstrators in Cairo and Alexandria (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/egypt-steps-up-battle-against-morsi-supporters-with-investigation-clashes/2013/07/27/032cae80-f699-11e2-9434-60440856fadf_story.html).

• In Shiite northwest Pakistan, two bombings left 57 dead (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/bombs-tear-through-crowds-at-busy-market-in-north-pakistan-killing-49-people/2013/07/27/cd654c1a-f677-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html?hpid=z4).

• In Iraq, 550 people have been killed in this holy month of Ramadan (see: http://www.france24.com/en/20130725-scores-killed-caf%C3%A9-bombing-attacks-iraq).

• In Syria, more than 100 people died in fighting in Khan al-Assad (see: http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0727/464928-syria/), bringing the death toll from the uprising against Bashar al-Assad well over 100,000. 

• In Somalia, a suicide bomber drove a car with explosives into the Turkish embassy staff building in Mogadishu, killing three people (see: http://www.jpost.com/International/Car-bomb-hits-Turkish-staff-building-in-Somali-capital-3-dead-321205).

• In Tunis, a bomb exploded in front of a police station (see: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-27/225277-blast-rocks-police-station-in-tunis-suburb.ashx#axzz2aGruNtU6).

Commenting on the chaos in Egypt, Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, an associate professor of political science at Emory University, writes in a guest New York Times op-ed entitled "Egypt’s Missed Opportunity" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/opinion/sunday/egypts-missed-opportunity.html?_r=0),:

"Things might have been different if reformists within the Brotherhood had set the group’s agenda after Egypt’s authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak, fell in 2011. Unlike the group’s hard-liners, the reformists had embraced more progressive interpretations of Islam that emphasize ideas of pluralism, tolerance and human rights. They had also come to view secular groups more as potential partners than as rivals. Yet over the past decade, the reformists were increasingly marginalized within the Brotherhood’s ranks. Some left by choice; others were expelled."

In other words, there are no "reformists" in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Or stated otherwise, if pigs could fly . . .

Meanwhile, I guess Egypt must continue to contend with dwindling foreign reserves, soaring unemployment, a devastated tourist industry, chaos caused by Islamic militants in Sinai, a weakening currency, poverty, illiteracy, discrimination against women (90 percent of whom have had their genitals mutilated), oppression of its Christian Coptic minority, and a population that is growing far beyond the country's means.

Good luck to all.