Mubarak resigns & transfers power to military

Mr . Mubarak has resigned as the president of Egypt and also handed power to the supreme council of the republican nation's armed forces. Egypt's politics, although full of twists and turns, is very fast-moving.

Egypt at a crossroad as Mubarak refuses to quit

Egypt at crossroad as Mubarak refuses to quit

President Mubarak has decided to stay on until the next election, but protestors still want him to quit immediately. Egypt is at a crossroad. Also, the ties between the US and Mubarak regime is under spotlight. The Egyptian armed forces now plays a very crucial role to recalibrate a balance between order and freedom in a very fast-changing society.

Egypt's future to be unsettled for many years

Saudi Arabia responds to new reality in Egypt

Saudi Arabia, whose monarch and chief cleric condemned hundreds of thousands of anti -Mubarak protestors in Egypt for being 'unArab' and 'unIslamic' , has reportedy issued an official statement in response to the highly dramatic resignation of Mubarak as the president of Egypt.
It is believed to be not very happy with America' s 'betrayal' of an ally, but the family-based kingdom is said to be politically still stable amid the recent upheaval in the surrounding Arabic-speaking Muslim world. For years, many progressive Muslims have been quietly chiding Saudi Arabia's ruling elites for being a principal source of reactionary ideas, particularly on the social relations between female and male on earth.

Muslim Brotherhood & America's Egypt policy

Regional forces surrounding 'change' in Egypt

Reportedly, Iran has warned against an opposition's rally to be held to purportedly show support for the protestors in Egypt, as well as other Middle Eastern and North African countries , which are Sunni Muslim-majority. Meanwhile , US president Obama has reportedly "consulted" Saudi Arabia' s King Abdullah on the still uncertain situation in Egypt. While Saudi Arabia has committed itself to an unchangeable position to support the Mubarak regime, the United States' policy is less rigid. Now, it is quite clear that Saudi Arabia's influence among the masses in Egypt does not seem to be, as powerful as it would like to imagine. The Muslim-majority Egypt was made a republic 25 years before Iran and it is also more respectful of women and its own history of faiths.

Chief clerics in Saudi & Iran differ over Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood & America's Egypt policy

The Obama administration may not fear the Muslim Brotherhood, but there is a large constituency in the USA which is wary of it. Also , the Obama administration has to balance the legitimate aspiration of the masses of Egypt with the security concerns, legitimate or not, of not only Israel and Europe but also Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. There is, of course, the question of Iran's strategy in the formulation of America's foreign policy response to fast-moving changes in Egypt. Personally, I still do not know much about the organisation and would certainly like to learn more by googling, reading books and talking to more knowledgeable and better informed people on this 'hot' subject.

Mubarak resigns & transfers power to military

Washington calls for political talks in Bahrain

Once again, the Obama administration has urged the ruling family of Bahrain to hold dialogues with opposition leaders. US State Secretary Hillary Clinton is on record as describing the deployment of Saudi-led foreign troops to Bahrain to quell domestic unrest as a "wrong" move. It seems that, with the 'solidarity' of Saudi Arabia and its global Sunni alliance, Bahrain's ruling family now feels emboldened enough to defy America and confront Iran simultaneously for its own regime survival. Saudi Arabia' s ruling family, while still an American ally vis-a-vis Iran and 'radical' Islamism, is already known to be unhappy with America's liberal attitude or position on public protests as well as its inability or unwillingness to protect Mubarak during the recent upheaval in Egypt.

Use of English widespread even in rural India

India is a country where many languages and dialects are spoken but English is also widely accepted and understood even in countryside in the northwest as it is often printed on private and public signboards. I still remember in the 1970s, some school teachers in Ipoh still used Wren & Martin's High School English Grammar And Composition, first published in colonial India in 1935, to impart to us the very essential knowledge of Queen's English, and I still keep a hardcover copy of its 100th edition ( revived by N.D.V. Prasada Rao and printed by S.Chad & Company Ltd in New Delhi in 1979 ) which was purchased from the Mubarak Bookstore (a historical institution by itself) in the Old Town.

Chinese food in a very rural Indian restaurant

Saudi Arabia's strategic design on Gulf region

If or when mammoth Saudi Arabia succeeds in its highly questionable operation in puny Bahrain, would it - or would it not - turn against its GCE allies one by one later to establish its own hegemony in the Gulf region so as to ensure that its regional periphery is permanently and absolutely 'secure' for its own interests ?. What is new in the last two days is not Saudi Arabia's clear show of strategic antagonism toward Iran, but its evident determinaton to break free from the constraints imposed by its American ally on its own freedom of strategic actions. Some ruling elites in Saudi Arabia are already known to be not happy with America' s inability or unwillingness to protect Mubarak in Egypt. Any unchecked expansion of the power and influence of Saudi Arabia is obstructive to the people' s quest for modernity in the Middle East, especially with respect to religious pluralism and also gender equality.

Iran & Iraq criticise Saudi Arabia over Bahrain

Saudi Arabia confronted with Iran's challenge

Feeling encircled by rebellious and seemingly pro-Iran Arab masses in neighbouring countries, Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to assist Bahrain's ruling house. So far, the oil -rich Saudi Arabia is still stable. Like it or not , the very critical question now is whether Saudi Arabia can convince the Shi'ite-majority population in Bahrain to support the Sunni monarchy in that puny kingdom after it itself has failed to stop the Sunni -majority crowds in Egypt from causing Mubarak's downfall. As a result of the widespread upheavals in countries on its periphery, Saudi Arabia is becoming increasingly newsworthy in the US and Iran. An Oxford University historian, Dr. Mark Almond has opined that the process of democratization in the region will be bumpy "for decades".

Saudi Arabia feels heat of region-wide unrest

Chief clerics in Saudi & Iran differ over Egypt

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia , Sheikh Abdul -Aziz Al al-Sheikh has reportedly joined King Abdullah in condemning anti-Mubarak protests. However, Iran' s Grand Ayatollah, Nasser Makarem Shirazi expressed support earlier for the street' uprising in the Sunni -majority republic. Saudi Arabia and Iran are believed to be competing fairly intensely to win more hearts and minds of Muslims throughout the world on earth. Meanwhile, there is a Western criticism against Iran for its hypocrisy because Iran itself also suppressed a large-scale protest movement in the streets in the aftermath of its allegedly flawed presidential poll in 2009. However, there is an observation among younger Muslims that, although the electoral system in Iran may not be 'perfect' yet, there is no election in the family -founded absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia. Liberal commentators in Western societies also often chide their own governments for not promoting the values and institutions of modern democracy in the Sunni-predominated and still family-based kingdom. Based upon the observation of Western liberals, Iran and Islamists of other nationalities also accuse governments in the West of hypocrisy. But, there is a politically conservative argument in the West that the status quo in Saudi Arabia is still very much needed for peace as well as stability in the Middle East and other surrounding regions or areas.

Outcome of 'change' in Egypt far from certain

Outcome of 'change' in Egypt far from certain

Given Egypt' s internal conditions and its external environment where competing forces strive, overtly or covertly, to influence the political direction and destination of the 'change', it is fairly naive to conclude right now that there is only one outcome in the post -Mubarak period, whether the 'strongman leaves now or after an election in September. The political sentiment of Egypt's population in the rural areas is still not that clear in the otherwise very detailed world news reports which focus on urban centers , such as Cairo, Alexandria, Suez or Port Said.

Iran now openly supports region-wide revolts

Iran's warships sailing into Mediterranean Sea

Reportedly, Iran's two naval ships have entered into the Suez Canal in their voyage towards the Mediaterrance Sea. Although the vessels do not pose instant threat to Israel's defence, the act is, like it or not, a symbolic gain in Iran's show of self-confidence or strength which adds psychological pressure on Israel, especially with the dramatic incident of the Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla in 2010 still fresh in its mind. The 2010 incident has highlighted the American, European and Israeli concerns over a very clear shift of Turkey's foreign policy orientation. The recent downfall of Mubarak in Egypt and the continuing as well as widespread unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is also a cause for fairly serious concerns to America , Europe and , above all, Israel. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff , Admiral Michael Mullen has visited Israel, and is now touring the Gulf states for field assessment of the situations in the fast-changing region where the United States' defence and security arrangments, are reportedly under heavy stress.

Iran's navy to cross Suez amid regional unrest

Saudi police opens fire to disperse protestors

The ban on protests in Saudi Arabia has been breached and the police reportedly opened fire "into the air", to break up breakers of the ban. Earlier, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Saud al-Faisal was reported to have openly threatened, to "cut foreign fingers" to respond to unrest. Confronted with the geostrategic pressure of the Shi'ite-majority and republican Iran, Saudi Arabia's ruling elites are also evidently wary of the United States' liberal position on the rights to dissent and protest and fairly disillusioned by the America' s 'betrayal' of Egypt's Mubarak. Allying with European powers to break up the Ottoman Empire, Saudi Arabia's ruling family was also anti-Soviet Union during the Cold War. Since 1991, it has been serving as the West's counterbalance to Iran. However, the fact that massive protests and popular revolts persists on Saudi Arabia's periphery despite its condemnations clearly reveals that its moral authorities and soft power among the Arabic-speaking Muslim masses in the regions are not as great as its ruling elites and clerics would like to imagine for themselves or/and project to others.

Saudi Arabia FM decries 'foreign interference'

Saudi Arabia reacts to very fast-moving times

Reportedly, Saudi Arabia's monarch Abdullah has announced a charity programme in reaction to external challenges and domestic problems. One of the many princes has also reportedly called for timely 'reform', but he holds no poltical power and details of the idea are still unclear. The downfall of Egypt's Mubarak and continuing unrest in Bahrain and other portions in, the Middle East and North Africa have clearly shown that the ideational influence and moral authority of the establishment of the oil-rich kingdom are not as powerful as it would like to project. Meanwhile, well-known journalist Jackson Diehl reveals in Washington Post that there is "a real possibility", for Saudi Arabia to move troops into Bahrain to put down protestors and prop up the besieged regime.

Saudi Arabia faces on-earth challenges within

M' sian observations on development in Egypt

Like many other people all over the world , Malaysians are also closely observing and discussing the dramatic changes in and future of Egypt which is now under the rule of the republic's supreme military council. There was also a public demonstration on 4 Feb (Fri) in Kuala Lumpur to give support to the protestors in Egypt who urged Mubarak to quit. Before the outbreak of the political uprising and also social upheaval, there were reportedly more than 10,000 Malaysian nationals in Egypt, including a large number of students of different fields of knowledge. Meanwhile, the latest hotspot in the very 'dynamic' Middle East is the Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Kingdom of Bahrain that is situated in between, the Shiite republic of Iran and, the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia, whose geostrategic relationship is already pretty well -known.

Obama urges Middle East to embrace reforms

Egypt : Iran's frigates can use Suez for transit

Like it or not, Iran has obtained official permission from the Egyptian defence ministry for its warships to pass through, the Suez Canal and into the Mediteranean Sea for the first time in 32 years. Israel is not happy about it and reportedly regards it as an act of "provocation" on the part of Iran. America, which is the leading member of NATO, has reportedly said that it would monitor the movement of Iran's frigates. Now, it is pretty clear that there is a geostrategic calculation in Iran's open support for the Arab revolts in the Middle East and North Africa. The European and Israeli fear of an Iran-style or pro-Iran government in post-Mubarak Egypt is not entirely baseless from their perspective. Of course, it would be foolhardy for Iran to underestimate the West's willingness and capability to defend Israel against existential threats.

Britain shares American concern over Bahrain

Egypt's future to be unsettled for many years

Now, there is a widespread speculation that President Mubarak would transfer his power very soon. However, as I have pointed out earlier, whether the president resigns now or after an election in September, the situation in Egypt would still be highly unstable for many years to come, as there are many domestic and external forces contending to shape the outcome of the 'change' to their interests as well as values. Shifting alignment and also realignment of forces in the post-Mubrak period would also be very confusing to many observers outside Egypt.

Workers' actions impact on situation in Egypt