In the heady, intoxicating atmosphere of the Arab Spring, we witnessed some wonderful scenes of "people power". In particular we saw the amazing drama of Tahria Square in Cairo, where the police and army refused to clear the streets of protesters rising up against the rule of then president Mubarak. I was not alone in hoping this marked a new phase in Middle East politics where at last there might be a bit more government by the people, and a little less government of the people. And I remember deploring the cynical remarks of a commentator at the time on British television warning that within a couple of years the situation would reverse itself, in a sort of "change the names but the game remains the same" scenario.
Well, dammit if he wasn't completely right. First a free and fair election was held, which brought the Muslim Brotherhood into power, only for it to be brought down by an army (always the power behind the throne in Egypt). Now its leader Mohammed Morsi faces a death sentence, and even three journalists who simply reported the unpalatable facts have been consigned to jail for seven years.
Any state that behaves in this way is politically and morally moribund and should rightly be condemned by free countries the world over. Government by the people is a messy, awkward business, but it's the only way a world can move forward to a better place. And right now, in this observer's opinion, the world is racing headlong backwards into a dark, terrible place that bodes ill for everyone living in it, except of course the rich and powerful. They, of course, are doing fine.
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