Pessimism for the Egyptian Revolution

Christopher Hitchens recounts being witness to some of the most dramatic political transitions of the past several decades and concludes that Egypt and the Arab world generally lack the conditions necessary to complete a revolution. He writes that none of the Arab movements possess unifying leaders, proto-structures or visions for government or even the experience with civil society that helped other countries obtain democracy. The piece dates itself to early February, prior to fall of Mubarak or the outbreak of Syrian protests, but focuses more on the underlying factors that would lead to the long-term success of those movements.