What impact will the uprising in Egypt have on the Middle East, the U.S., Canada, China, and the EU? The Mark's experts weigh in.
Our panel of world-leading experts dissect the Egyptian uprising and its implications for Canada and the nations of the world.
Graham Allison Founding Dean, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
What do the recent events in Egypt mean for the U.S.? The answer is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Egypt is important to the U.S. for a number of reasons. Topping the list is oil, and the flow of oil, for which the Suez Canal is an important transit conduit. There is no reason to believe that a successor to the Mubarak government would interrupt the flow of oil, but you could imagine events in the area that could interrupt the flow, and we’re seeing this concern reflected in the markets. [MORE]
Irwin Cotler Member of Parliament, Former Canadian Justice Minister.
Israel's vocal support of Mubarak seems inconsistent with the direction of events in Egypt, and out of sync with the positions of most of the international community. That discord stems from the calculus in Israel that the status quo in the short term is preferable to an uncertain and a possibly threatening future. [MORE]
Richard Gowan Associate Director, Center on International Cooperation, New York University.
The European Union has struggled to affect its immediate neighbours in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is indicative of its shrinking global influence.
To understand the European Union’s efforts to forge a common foreign policy, we must look to the Egyptian crisis. Not the crisis unfolding today in Cairo and Alexandria, but the one that occurred in 1956, when France and Great Britain intervened in Egypt in an attempt to overturn President Gamal Abdul Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal.
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Robert Danin Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies, Council on Foreign Relations.
Inspired by street action in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrian oppositionists are girding for their own “day of rage” on Friday in Damascus and other parts of the country. The wave of demonstrations moving through the Arab world from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Aden is being watched by ordinary Syrians, with some apparently preparing to emulate them. Protest organizers are using the same tools employed elsewhere so far – Facebook and Twitter – to mobilize support against corruption, repression, and economic hardship and in favor of better conditions, freedom of speech, and human rights. Some 9,000 people have reportedly signed up to the Facebook page dubbed the "2011 Syrian revolt against Bashar Assad." [MORE]
Yasheng Huang International Program Professor, Chinese Economy and Business and Professor, Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan School of Management.
Acquiring energy assets and large construction projects in Africa and the Middle East is a key element of China's economic growth strategy. But while energy and infrastructure are the main economic conduits between China and Egypt, it is unlikely that China views Egypt, specifically, as critical to its growth. China's energy security is more closely tied to Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The more relevant issue is general regional instability, which causes increases in oil prices and commodity prices across the board. That negatively affects China's growth as it does all other countries'. [MORE]
Unlike some of the major players in the region or in the world, for Canada the real impact of the situation in Egypt won’t be what happens in Egypt, but how Canadian allies and associates respond to the situation. For us it will be far more important to react to the way the United States, Israel or Great Britain reacts. Their reactions could have a significant impact on the way the world order plays out and the implications for us, whereas Canada itself is not a serious player in this situation and as a result these developments won’t have a major direct result on us. It seems that there will be a reorganization of alliances and once that’s taken place, Canada will have to see where it stands in the new world order. [MORE]
Thomas Lippman Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies, Council on Foreign Relations.
Saudi Arabia is among the many countries with a lot at stake in Egypt. The emergence of a radical regime from the wreckage of the Mubarak era –whether religious or, less likely, extreme populist – would certainly be troublesome for the kingdom. A complete state failure, Somalia-style, would be even more dangerous. So far, however, there is not much reason to believe that the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia portend similar developments in Saudi Arabia, where the political and popular environment is quite different. [MORE]
Ramin Jahanbegloo Philosopher; Professor and Research Fellow, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto.
This is apparently what news anchors (at least cool ones) do during commercial breaks. Reminiscent of the coordinated dance routines our own news editor Mike Barber performs after a few beers.
Yasheng HuangInternational Program Professor, Chinese Economy and Business; Professor, Global Economics and Management, MIT Sloan School of Management.
Tony BurmanFormer managing director; current head of strategy for the Americas, Al Jazeera English.
Richard ZeckhauserFrank P. Ramsey Professor of Political Economy, Kennedy School, Harvard University.
Karen MazurkewichJournalist; Co-director of a report on intellectual property and innovation for the CIC.
Michael IgnatieffSenior Resident of Massey College, University of Toronto;Former Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada;
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