Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Egypt's state of emergency extended

An interesting view on the state of civil society in Egypt. It's a common misconception in the West that civil unrest in the Middle East is primarily a fight between Islam and secular values. But this article sheds a little light on what is really going on. It's easy to forget that Egypt has been living under a presidential regime with "emergency" powers pretty much continuously since 1967. A 43 year emergency? Wow, that is emergent. This pattern of civil suppression is pretty consistent through countries that seem to attract Islamist movements. Egypt seems to fare better than most, but that's likely due to the fact that they have managed to develop a civil society that at least seems able to mount a token opposition, and may even be able to get the decrees reversed - finally. Contrast this with places like Saudi Arabia - where civil society has no such freedom of expression - and it becomes easier to see why political Islam can be so appealing.

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Egypt's state of emergency extended