Newswise — Joel Gordon, professor of history and director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas, is available to comment on recent events in Egypt and the role of the army:
“Once the euphoria ends, the country -- and especially the opposition that toppled Mubarak -- face tough questions. The army has announced the impending lifting of the Emergency Measures, instituted with Sadat's assassination and renewed regularly ever since, but only when the situation returns to ‘normal.’ Mubarak used that phrase or a similar one yesterday – ‘normal.’ The mass of Egyptians rejected a return to normalcy. They'll need to decide whether or not it’s wise to go home and trust in this new ruling council. The last time they did, they surrendered all hopes for democracy. The army will have to better define its position -- and I'm not sure anyone in the high command can yet answer that.”
Gordon is the author of three books on Nasser and his era in Egypt and has recently published a chapter in the New Cambridge History of Islam on the subject of Egypt since 1919.
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