While the political earthquake rumbling through the Middle
East began in Tunisia, when the people took to the streets in Egypt, unrest
became a trend rather than an isolated event. In addition, Egypt's unique role
among states in the region -- historically and due to the size of its population
-- amplified the importance of the demonstrations that have filled the streets
of Cairo, Alexandria, and the rest of the country for this past week.
Even before President Mubarak's decision to end his 30-year
rule, Egypt's crisis had earned the undivided attention of leaders across the
Middle East. King Abdullah of Jordan's sacking of his cabinet and Yemeni
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's announcement that he too was not going to seek
to extend his three-decade-long tenure in office indicated that both men
recognized the fuse that was lit in North Africa was connected to stacks of
dynamite on which they were sitting.
But it could well be that the forces unleashed by these unlikely
people-power revolutions are just starting to be felt. Countries and leaders around the world are
wondering aloud what this means for them. Some more than others. Here are
the 10 people (outside Egypt and Tunisia) most unsettled by the past week's developments.
10. Xi Jinping
China's vice president and the anointed successor to China's
president, Hu Jintao, is a princeling, a son of the country's revolutionary
leadership who has worked himself up through Fujian, Zheijang, and Shanghai
provinces to be on the verge of taking over a rising superpower. Looking to Egypt he must wonder, however,
whether that will be a blessing or a curse. Will he lead the next chapter of
China's emergence, or will he be faced by popular resistance to a political structure
that is incompatible with the openness and freedoms required of a burgeoning
modern economy? Street demonstrations
are nothing new to China … the question is whether street demonstrations plus
new communications technologies plus growing aspirations are a formula for
unrest in the world's most populous nation. ...
For the rest of: The Really Bad Week: Egypt Edition
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