i am posting articles regarding EGYPT CRISIS,hope it will be useful to all aspirants
of 2011+2012

Egypt Crisis a Diplomatic, Economic and Military Headache

Commentary
By Iain Martin The nervousness detectable in the statements emanating from various foreign ministries is understandable. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office in particular has plenty of experience of how a crisis in Egypt can turn ugly with destabilizing consequences. Think of the 1950s emergence of Nasser, the conflict over Suez and the aftermath of military action.

The U.S. administration is having to proceed very carefully in pursuit of a peaceful outcome, apparently giving covert encouragement to the protesters against President Hosni Mubarak while hoping that any change of government doesn’t end up with Egypt becoming a dangerous theocracy. The moderate reformers campaigning to get Mubarak out could eventually be swept aside by zealots.

This is one of those weekends when foreign ministers cannot do all that much beyond issuing statements saying they are monitoring the situation. It is in the balance. History, and the study of various politicians’ memoirs, tells us that “monitoring the situation” translates as “we are watching the television pictures from Egypt, telephoning fellow foreign ministers from friendly countries who are also watching television coverage of Egypt and having conversations with our staff on the ground, who sensibly have locked the doors and are watching the local news on television.”

Once the initial excitement fades, about what might be the middle-eastern equivalent of 1989’s velvet revolution against communism, grave concerns are likely to start surfacing publicly in the days ahead. Indeed, the mounting casualty numbers from Egypt since the protests began suggest this uprising is not guaranteed to follow the Eastern European pattern.

The uprising could end up having a peaceful outcome with the emergence of a government under a leadership that can hold back any future fundamentalist surge. But don’t bet on it. There are multiple dangers and questions to consider.

1) Israel. To put it mildly, the only democracy in the region is not going to be relaxed about any new Egyptian government that might take a more confrontational approach on Israel’s right to exist. The Americans will urge restraint, but Israel has not in the past been afraid to takes action when it feels threatened.

2) As my colleague Steve Fidler points out, Egypt’s Suez canal is still a major pinch point in the global economy. Substantial amounts of trade and oil still move through it. Any disruption (if the movement for change turned into a violent revolution), even for a very brief period, could have consequences for the world economy in terms of rattling nerves and knocking confidence. If trade was disrupted for any serious length of time by a revolution, a diplomatic or military solution would have to be engineered.

3) How easy would that be? Not very. Any military intervention — to hold back the Israelis in the form of peace-keeping or to keep trade flowing through the canal — would be nightmarishly problematic. If it came to that then cue huge amounts of hot air at the U.N. and pressure on President Obama. Just when foreign entanglements are out of fashion in Washington, London, Paris and, of course, Brussels. But the U.S. would still find itself looked to for a solution, despite all the talk of its waning influence. Could it put together any kind of (what’s the phrase?) “coalition of the willing” to tackle the crisis? In such a hypothetical situation Chinese and American interests might actually be aligned — with the flow of trade threatened. But Iran is nearby. And energy rich Russia takes a very different view of the region from the U.S.

All in all, a peaceful culmination of the extraordinary events taking place in Egypt has a lot to recommend it.

courtesy, WALL STREET JOURNAL;

Online activism fuels Egypt protest

Online social networks being used by activists to communicate and organise anti-government protests.

Fatma Naib Last Modified: 28 Jan 2011 11:50 GMT
Egyptian authorities have blocked internet and mobile services in a bid to quell anti-government protests, but the measures may have come a bit too late.

Activists spread the word online about Friday's protests, detailing the list of public squares where people should gather.

Calls for action circulated on Twitter and Facebook since early on Friday morning.

Twitter user rassdwda wrote: "#Egypt protests begin from mosques & churches, #Muslims #Christians 2gether#Jan25".

Another user named eacusa tweeted: "#Jan25 #Egypt Good news, morale in Cairo still high, veteran activists from 60s & 70s r spreading knowledge of predigital ways 2 coordinate."

In the hours before the internet was unplugged, activists used social media inside the country and relayed their messages using contacts in other countries.

Online activists from Tunisia shared information about how protesters could pour Coca-Cola on their faces as a method of protecting themselves if police use tear gas. Others offered help by submitting emergency numbers for use in case protesters are arrested.

A youth group that calls itself the April 6th Movement distributed 20,000 leaflets late on Thursday outlining a basic blueprint of where to go and what supplies to take. They urged people to distribute the information through emails and in person rather than Facebook and Twitter to avoid government interference.

No revolution, no democracy

Other Twitter users sent messages to boost protesters' morale, offering tweets of support and solidarity from countries such as Japan and the United States .

Takamit7 wrote: "Without revolution, there is no democracy. Without internet, there is no freedom. We Japanese support you!!?#Egyptian"

Some users offered ideas about how to bypass the government's technological crackdown by logging on to the internet with proxy servers.

Users outside Egypt urged fellow citizens to write to their politicians to put pressure on the Egyptian government.

Alihabibi1 wrote:"If you are in the #USA, call your congress representatives to unlock internet and phone networks in #Egypt!"

Others living abroad offered to dedicate their account all day to sending messages on behalf of people via the phone like journalist Mona Eltahawy who wrote: "#Egyptians: Friday I I'll b on #Twitter ALL DAY: if social media blocked write to me eltahawy67@gmail.com and I'll spread word. #Jan25".

Eerie Cairo

The very few Egyptians that had some online connection offered an insight into how the streets looked in Cairo. A user named anonymous wrote:"Just had a peek outside the window this Friday morning. Everything looks quiet so far in Tahrir square, I don't see any police #jan25".

Others tweeted of an eerie Cairo, though the mood was likely to change after midday prayers. The mood was echoed online: After 12:30 am on Friday morning, when the government shutdown began, Twitter and Facebook became online ghost towns, with the vast majority of users inside Egypt disappearing.

Even Al Jazeera correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin wrote minutes before the total blockade: "Internet service down across #egypt #jan25. Will be tweeting on Friday by alternative means."

Others expressed their disappointment. Mona Eltahawy wrote:"Friday Jan 28 historical day in #Egypt: #Mubarak dictator of 3 decades shuts down internet bec scared of youth-organized protests #Jan25."


Source: Al Jazeera

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