Protests in Egypt Can Change The Future of The World

The ongoing protests in Egypt have far more severe ramifications for the future of the world than one would expect from internal civil disturbances within a country of its size and population. The primary reason for this is the strategic importance of Egypt in the Islamic world. The way these protests end can have an everlasting strategic impact on both radical Islamists as well the relation of Middle Eastern world with the West. The reason for this lies in the historic and psychological importance of Egypt in the global Islamic community.

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Leadership within the Global Islamic Community

In today’s Islamic fraternity, Saudi Arabia has very much been the centre, with its Wahhabi form of Islam that has spread and overtaken all other forms of Islamic philosophy, including that prevailed in Egypt up to the middle of the last century. However, the history of both Saudi Arabia as a nation as well as the Wahhabi form of Islam is still not very old. In 1744, the founder of the Saudi Rulers dynasty, Muhammad ibn Saud joined hands with Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab,who founded the Wahhabi movement. Subsequently, after a lot of inter-tribal struggles, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came into existence in 1932 by uniting the kingdoms of Hejaz and Nezd. Its economic windfall came in the form of discovery of vast stocks of petroleum reserves six years later, and since then, the Saudi Arabian version of extremely radical Wahhabi Islam, riding on the power of petrodollars, has been practically reshaping Islam and its practices across the globe, through its liberal aid to all other Muslim regions. The Saudi rulers, who were initially not a part of this phenomenon, have been a partner to this process ever since the Grand Mosque Seizure by the Islamists in 1979, finding it the best strategy to insulate themselves against the threat of an Iranian style revolution. With this strategy, the Saudi King continues to enjoys complete monopoly of authority – the legislative, judicial and executive powers being completely concentrated in the King (or to be more precise, the Royal family). The result has been a strange alliance between the Saudi rulers (with their oil wealth) and the very powerful Wahhabi Ulema on one hand, and the Saudi rulers and the Western powers, led by United States, on the other. These alliances have continued against all odds in spite of 9/11 and its aftermath. In fact, the US war on Iraq and its rising tension with Iran has only made its alliance with Saudi rulers more crucial to its interests.