Eastern Michigan University faculty members with expertise in Middle Eastern Studies and political science held a lively discussion about the conflict in Egypt on Thursday evening in a packed Student Center Ballroom.
The campus “teach-in” was organized in hopes of educating the campus community, said Stephen Burwood, director of international programs at EMU and moderator of the event.
John Knight, assistant professor of modern Middle East history, offered his thoughts and knowledge on the matter.
Knight said up until the day of the event, he looked at the conflict from a solely academic point of view, but that quickly changed.
“Today it became personal for me,” he said. “My friends are on their way to Egypt.”
For those who weren’t familiar with the details of the situation, Knight brought the audience up to speed.
“Egyptians have been trying for the last week to throw off a despotism that’s been around for three decades, thirty years,” Knight said.
According to Knight, despotism is an absolute or autocratic government that exercises total control over a nation, and he believes Egypt is a prime example of it.
“This is a government that tortures, that jails,” Knight said. “It’s a corrupt despotism.”
Knight said the people have suffered because of the lack of power they have over their lives. As a result, income and literacy levels are low in comparison to other nations around the world, Knight said.
“The average income is about $5,000 per year in Egypt,” he said. “Their literacy rate is between 66 and 70 percent. This is a country that is behind. That is not stability.”
Joanna Scott, a political science professor, said although the Egyptian economy has grown, the growth is only seen at the top, and it doesn’t trickle down.
Burwood said 50 percent of Egyptians earn $2 or less a day.
Knight condemned recent violent actions of the Egyptian government against civilians.
Knight said contrary to reports in the media, he doesn’t believe they were deployed by accident.
“This is no mistake,” he said. “You do not deploy against civilians. He is deploying F-16s against his own people.”
For awhile, the demonstrations were diplomatic and an amazing sight to see, Knight said.
“Up until now, the protests have been largely peaceful,” he said. “Frankly, it’s a beautiful revolution. This is about Egyptians calling for a better Egypt.”
Scott dubbed the conflict the first “tweeted revolution.”
“We know now we’re looking at a new phenomenon,” Scott said. “People your age have been online all over the world. The revolution has been occurring virtually.”
Knight had a different opinion regarding the influence of social media.
“They don’t want it called a twitter revolution,” he said. “This is an Egyptian revolution.”
Scott said regardless of what the official title of the conflict may be, social media have had a profound effect.
“The facts are the availability of social media made that spark available,” she said.
Scott discussed two landmark events she believes may have triggered the conflict in Egypt—the “spark” of Tunisia and Wikileaks.
“If the Tunisians could do it [overthrow their government], they could too,” Scott said. “I was in London when the Wikileaks came out. Basically what they say is ‘This place is in trouble.’ ”
Scott said the United States is in a unique position to respond or intervene, but the next steps must be planned carefully.
“We can’t mass the tanks at the border,” she said. “He [President Obama] has to be more subtle. The American army will not be directly involved.”
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s decision to stay in office until September of this year is not an idea that contains much logic, Scott said.
“To say ‘I need to stay here to see the transition through,’ what sense does that make?” Scott said.
Egypt has two options when it comes to deciding the course it wants the country to take, Scott said.
“One option is to scrap the whole thing,” she said. “The other is to leave him in place and have elections as soon as possible.”
No matter how things turn out, Scott said the Egyptian army is key to making things work.
“The leadership of that army was trained by the U.S.,” Scott said. “The army will be a transitional leader.”
According to Scott, an unknown fact to some is the amount of money Egypt receives every year from the United States.
“We gave $2 billion to Egypt,” Scott said. “The second largest behind Israel.”
When asked why, Scott said the answer was simple. “The deal was a ton of aid to keep the peace,” she said.
However, Knight noted the deal came with some strings attached.
“Don’t think they can spend that money wherever,” he said.
Knight said the money must be spent on goods and services the United States has a stake in, such as weapons.
“They must spend the money on weapons made in the U.S.,” he said.
Scott tried to dispel rumors circulating about the protestors and Mubarak supporters.
“Not all the people who oppose the uprising are thugs on camels,” she said. “A lot of the people have a lot at stake—the wealthy for one. This is a complex situation. This is not necessarily the good guys versus the bad guys.”
Knight said even though there has been talk of the revolution spreading to other areas, he believes it’s unlikely. Burwood said he doesn’t think it’s too much of a stretch to assume it might happen.
“It is not an outlandish suggestion to think there are repercussions,” Burwood said.
Burwood informed the audience 65 percent of the population in Egypt is under the age of 34, and they are largely responsible for the revolution. To the young adults in the audience, he said they should use this as an example of the power young people have.
“University students and graduates can change the status quo,” Burwood said.
A student in the audience said it’s very easy for young adults to be “lulled” to sleep by many distractions available such as social media and television.
Knight said it’s important for students to realize Egyptians are fighting for something Americans take for granted every day.
“Egyptians are trying to build the lives you enjoy,” he said.
Knight said the world needs to be patient as the situation unfolds and look to America as an example.
“Be mindful of how long it took America to get where it is today,” he said. “If Egypt does work, remember freedom is messy, and it does take work. It may not look as we all envision.”
Scott said the conflict should be considered a teachable moment for America.
“Why can’t we make the world a better place?” she asked.
Monica Michael, an EMU junior, is of Egyptian descent, and she has several family members living in Egypt.
Michael said although it is extremely “chaotic” in Egypt, she has been able to get into contact with her family—mainly through Facebook.
Echoing the sentiments of the speakers, Michael reiterated the importance of Americans following the conflict.
“People just don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “People need to care. I’ve started looking at the news, because it’s important. When you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t do anything.”
EMU President Susan Martin said she is actively following the conflict, because she knows several EMU students, faculty and staff members are personally affected by it.
“We certainly hope the violence stops and they achieve a peaceful solution,” Martin said. “It’s alarming to see the news reports.”
Junior Andrew Merrill attended the event out of curiosity even though he has no affiliation with the university.
“I heard about it through word of mouth, and I came straight over here after work,” Merrill said. “It’s such a timely crisis going on. I agree with the speakers. Americans must begin to become more informed. This has a profound impact on our country.”
Burwood issued a challenge to the EMU community that he wants to see done within the next two-to-three weeks.
“Organize something like this event so the broader community can take a look at this,” he said. “We’ve sat, we’ve discussed, and now we need to do something.”
