People seem to forget that several thousands years of history in the middle have proven one thing about leadership there…
Being an autocrat comes with the job. The culture is still tribalistic to this day, which means:
-You’ve got to be tough,
-You’ve got to be prepared to kill
-People you’ve never met need to fear you
-People you’ve never met want to, and are prepared to kill you for petty reasons
-Cooperation is uncommon,
-Your best allies are also your worst enemies
-Half the time Survivalism means Despotism
Everyone always forgets that “regional stability” has a significant price.
An anecdotle and humorous example of this proof is the old movie Lawrence of Arabia. He unites the tribes, and the people, to bethrow colonial government, and it’s all for …. nothing. Because as soon as the power who’s reigned has gone, the demi-powers are at each others throats like kids in a sand-box.
For Mubarak to have ruled so long without mass murdering dozens of people, or starting wars leading to the deaths of many more is an incredibly uncommon achievement for the region. Especially considering Egypt is the most populous state.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Mubarak fan, I would have been in the street with an Ak-47 opposing his rule too. But be sure to consider that some of his ‘worst greivances’ against the egyptian people, are likely attributable to the fact that that is what it takes to govern ‘stably’ there.
In closing… briefly compare the middle east to British throne history, and the 1000+ years and the X amount of dead bodies it took to culturally form a socially respected and functioning democracy.
The price of revolution whether democratic or otherwise is always lives.