“You say you want a revolution.”

The delicate balance of the countries in the Middle East came crashing down, starting with the revolution in Tunisia which then spread to Egypt, Yemen and Jordan. The 25^th of January marked the beginning of what will be a monumental change not just for the Middle East, but for the entire world.

The most intense revolt is the one currently taking place in Egypt, where people are rebelling against their President, Hosni Mubarak.

“Mubarak has been in power for 30 years,” said sophomore Ramsey El-Hady. “He is not doing anything to help the people; he is leaving the poor in poverty and making him and his friends rich.”

The economy in Egypt has recently declined dramatically while unemployment rates have gone up. The people are weary of broken promises and want to bring Egypt into an age of democracy.  They have promised that they will not disperse until Mubarak is overthrown and they get an opportunity to have real elections.

Most of the demonstrations are taking place in Egypt’s capital, Cairo.

“I have family in Cairo, and they are stuck at home without any way to communicate with others, “said senior Mark Mekhail. “They have to be off the streets because of the curfew that is from four in the afternoon into the morning.”

With the dramatic shift of power that could come to Egypt, and Obama’s request that Mubarak resign, the United States’ diplomatic relations with Egypt could be damaged.

“If Mubarak leaves, Egypt will have a fresh start and better goals,” said Mekhail. “The relationship with the U.S. will be affected because Mubarak was a key for U.S. Presidents in Middle East.”

A deciding factor in this conflict is going to be the army. The army has so far not taken any sides, and the people respect the army, and their ability to keep the peace so far. After a week of riots, supporters of Mubarak took to the streets to defend their President.

“Mubarak released two prisons and paid the criminals to kill protesters,” said El-Hady.

The government went so far as to block the internet to stop protestors from using social networks like Facebook to organize riots and demonstrations.  But not everyone feels that Mubarak is a bad leader.

“I think he is a good leader because he kept Egypt out of war, and he is a peacemaker for the U.S. and Israel,” said Mekhail. “He is not liked because he has been in power longer then the people wanted.”

Whether Mubarak is overthrown or not, the ideas that began the revolution will be in the hearts and minds of Egyptians for a long time.

On the 11^th of February, 18 days after the revolution began; Mubarak announced his resignation from office and his decision to give his power to the military. Before Mubarak’s decision was made public he fled Cairo to his beach house in Sharm El Sheikh to be with his family.
The ruling military council will run the country for the next 6 months, until the next presidential election. On February 13^th the ruling military council decided to dissolve Parliament and suspend the Constitution, meeting the two key demands of protesters, who are still applying pressure for immediate results.
“Egypt has not been in this situation in about 40 years,” said Mekhail. “It’s the first time for my generation to fight for their rights.”