Opinion  Ron Ben-Yishai
Warning: Egypt may become failed state
Ron Ben-Yishai
Published: 02.07.13, 14:43
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50 Talkbacks for this article
1. Third World economic planning
Avi Yisraeli ,   Tel Aviv   (07.02.13)
'Help, we need money or else we're in danger of becoming a Failed State' reminds me of the guy who walks into a bank pointing a loaded gun to his own head and tells the teller 'Give me all your money right now, or else I'll pull the trigger!'
2. "government ... irrelevant, if so...?
Lemmings Hotline ,   sd usa   (07.02.13)
then there wouldn't be so many people protesting in the street. The fact that people care that the "hood" was writing itself into the constitution and doing away with the new democracy, shows that the govt. is very relavant
3. as Ye sow, so shall Ye reap.
ASTRONAUT ,   SC, USA   (07.02.13)
4. May become.....?
EC ,   Washington DC   (07.02.13)
It HAS been a failed state since about 650 AD.
5. right on target
Fad Egypt   (07.02.13)
thats what i ve been saying for a long time, that the problem wont be solved by Morsi departure, unless the someone has the capabilities and vision to save the country in terms of economy, and national security, this country will go down and will collapse completely, right now i am not optimistic about who is going to replace Morsi if he left, the next president is going to be leftist, a leftist president means that Morsi anti Israel and US polices, the relations with hamas, Hizbullah and Iran will be improved more and more, and the national securtiy wont be improved , the situation in Sinai wont be improved , so Israel deterrence against Hamas and Iran wont be improved, in economy the leftist president wont do anything to save the economy , it may collapse sooner under than Morsi !!!! so unless the next president is the man of the hour like Shafik, this country wil collapse no matter whats the name of the president who is going to be a leftist or perhaps liberal or without vision like Baradae or Moussa but i am expecting that he will be a leftist , because the second strong stream after the islamic one is the leftist stream , and it is the one which leading the revolution right now !!!! shalom
6. Ben Yishai is invited to detox the Egyptian mind
NoMoreFailures   (07.02.13)
Israeli journalists have to seek relationship with openminded Egyptian and Palestinian journalist, and together detox the Arab mind. End the influence of publishers who contaminated generations with the Protocols.. I do not like the had line. Is it supporting the other failed president of Egypt again?
7. mixed feelings
alsky ,   Toronto   (07.02.13)
its difficult to feel sorry for these people since so many of them are busy burning Israeli/American flags,killing westerners, and rape. Having said that, I know there are many decent people in Egypt and my heart goes out to them.
8. They'll have to invent special adjective for Obama's Pre-
tom ,   tel aviv   (07.02.13)
sidency, "Spectacular failure" won't cut it...
9. Instant replay.
michael Pielet ,   israel   (07.02.13)
Now we know that the peace with Egypt was purchased with the Sinai and American dollars. Its not peace but a temporary armistice. What Egypt needs to do is ally itself with the Soviet Union, receive massive amounts of arms from the Soviets, make war on the Jews and get the Egypt people's minds off of their problems.
10. Very first basic rule is that
Gabor ,   Budapest, Hungary   (07.02.13)
democracy is not working in Arab states because religion plays a far too important role in their life and, also due to this, basic respect for life and desire for freedom is missing. There are always exceptions, but as long as certain movements declare their ideology and actions justified by God, and these people get huge support, democracy won't work. This has been proven many times.
11. Morsi and MB are to blame.
zad   (07.02.13)
Since he became president, Morsi dedicated all his time to transform Egypt into Egyptstan ruled by Sharia law like Iran or Hezbollahstan in Lebanon. Thank GOD, Egyptians can't be mocked thus they won't accept to bow to these crazy fanatics MB. Morsi can now go to Iran.
12. I Think -
Arn. ,   Sweden.   (07.02.13)
- A Military Dictatorship and Finacial aid from Saudiarabia could follow ?. Arn.Sweden.
13. If a state lives in 7th Century,it will earn 7th Cen wealth
Alan ,   SA   (07.02.13)
Although this unemployment is a contagion of many countries today,it is particularly severe in Egypt. Instead of looking how to advance with the benefit of Israel as a neighbour,the new MB regime is hell bent on throwng this advantage to the wind Egyptians are told to pray harder.It is a joke! A result of this bad situation in Egypt and other Muslim States, is the massive migration into EU.. How long will the EU original population tolerate this overpopulation of thier schools ,hospitals etc And the decline of the welfare state thast props up their population?
14. Obama the Naif.
Steve Klein   (07.02.13)
Barack Obama should be ashamed of himself for demanding former Egyptian President Mubark step down "immediately" Feb. 2011, short of an organized transition to a new secular-leaning government / leader. For all his short-comings, Mubarak knew how to govern. Muslim Brotherhood? Obama should be ashamed for his 2009 speech to the Muslim world at al-Azhar University in Cairo, whereby he invited then banned Muslim Brotherhood to attend the ill-advised speech. Obama has been courting Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and here in the U.S. Obama's policies, both in the Middle East and North Africa and in the United States have been disastrous.
15. A good article that could be expanded
Bitcoin Li ,   USA   (07.02.13)
Just as the Palestinians have certain uses as refugees so also the misery in Egypt.
16. Marshall Plan?
Michael Storch ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (07.02.13)
The Marshall Plan was a one-off. Europe had recently had more-or-less functioning industrial democracies, and most of what they needed were bank loans go grease the wheels. This does not describe Egypt. Cheers,
17. It wuz those durned pesky...
Gideon Reader   (07.02.13)
...Jooo Settlers whut caused all this fol de rol to happen. It started with Yul Brenner and Charleton Heston. The Joooz (or alternative Glitzianer spelling, Jooos) have done it. And the skateboarders. I am thinking of going on the Web with a "let Morsi alone" video.
18. i agree with #17
david ,   galil israel   (07.02.13)
19. "rule with an iron fist "...won't work
Lemmings Hotline ,   sd usa   (07.02.13)
Your flippant rambling between metaphors shows that you are really shooting in the dark for a solution to a problem that has also escaped you. Egypt is very tired of the "iron fist", so that wont work. Its very simple what the solutionic to Egypt is. You need to establish faithfulness of the government. Before you have a new election, you need to have a constitution which ensures the rights of the individual, even if he is in the minority. Therefore you need a constitutional convention made up of representatives of all different parts of society. Once you establish individual rights you need to enforce them with a dedicated court system. Then you can have an election. In this sequence you wont have the ruling party hijack the constitution in its infant form , as we observed this past year
20. BOTH Morsi & ElBaradei belong to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Harry Wright ,   UK   (07.02.13)
ElBaradei is making a big play to dethrone Morsi. If he wins any election, it will be the same oppressive MB in power but with a different face leading. A country like Egypt with limited resources and high dependency on foreign aid cannot afford to not be secular. To turn Egypt into a fundamentalist sharia state will just finish killing it off. What do MB, Salafis and jihadists have to offer the people in terms of improving their lives? Nothing! Their influence is just plain negative and counter-productive: oppression, violence, slaughter, nit-picking, suppression of independent thought, opinions and beliefs, an obsession with females and what they wear and a determination to keep the population uneducated, ignorant and backward so there is no opposition to those who wield authority in the name of religion - and a dysfunctional one at that. Their version of Islam is simply to put EVERYBODY in bondage to the "elite" clerics and their illiterate or brainwashed jihadists / warriors. That so many countries in the ME are able to get away with that nonsense in this day and age is because of their wealth. Egypt will collapse under the weight of fundamentalist Islam without money.
21. to 15
suad ,   gaza   (07.02.13)
as if you say - white snow is fine while falling in wakelwak in hot summer
22. Egypt
Get Real ,   UK   (07.02.13)
Possibly the military will remain standing back from the politics until the country hits such a low level that either the population will call out for them to take-over or they will have to step in to maintain order. Egyptian pro-Western Generals seeing the benefits of US aid and weapons.
23. For once Ynet runs an intelligent article
Bitcoin Li ,   USA   (07.02.13)
but it pulls all the morons and retards out of the woodwork to make comments.
24. Failed states?
albert snow ,   sweden   (07.02.13)
Egypt already is a failed state. All undemocratic states are failed states. All islamic states are and´ll be undemocratic and failed states because islam means submission and submission means dictatorship and opression.
25. *Already* a failed state, on the way to collapse
Raymond in DC ,   Washington, USA   (07.02.13)
Egypt's foreign currency reserves are almost depleted, so the country can no longer afford to import needed food and fuel. The Egyptian currency and stock market have weakened, inflation is up, and foreign tourism is down. The only things going up, it seems, are crime, attacks on Christians and other minorities, and unemployment.
26. Let Egypt Fail
emanon ,   USA   (07.02.13)
I don;t quite get what is meant by a "failed state", but no one should be stepping in to bail out any side. The moment any nation does, Egypt will become another beggar state, just like the one the arabs want to create in Gaza. "We have no food. Feed us", "We have no money. Give us money." No one is interetsed in trying to better themselves if others rush in to meet their needs. Egypt will then become a drain on the world's economy. Egypt should solve its problems or go under. It is up to the Egyptians, not the world to save Egypt.
27. King Mohammed the 5th said :
J.K. ,   Brooklyn USA   (07.03.13)
Morocco can be governed only from horseback,the same goes for Egypt and the other Muslim countries.
28. So predictable
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (07.03.13)
Oh wait I did predict this over 2 years ago. The Egyptian economy was in bad shape under Mubarak - Mursi totally destroyed what was left. There are 90 million Egyptians. They have no money, no power and no food.
29. #24 I hate to break it to you
Expat ,   Adelaide   (07.03.13)
But all of this soon will be coming big-time to you too, unless you people would start doing something to reclaim your country back. And the sooner the better.
30. Egypt has a better chance to survive as a state & country
Alan ,   Canada   (07.03.13)
Compared to the the very heterrogenous & artificial countries like Syria, Irak & Lebanon, Egypt is a more coherent country with a long history like Iran. Its current instability is due to the horrid economic situation, in part the result of a fast growing population in a country with very limited ressources, The retrograde influence of religion on the less educated parts of the population also hinders economic progress to bring back some tranquility. And now those of the Muslim Brotherhood who used democratic élections to subvert democracy are not appearing to be willing to be removed from power without a fight which will divide the people for a long time if bloodshed ensues.
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