International Relations

This is My Rifle, This is My Gun

Maybe the military control of Egypt isn't so awful. Fred Kaplan offers some insight:

It may seem strange to Westerners that the military might play—and would be popularly celebrated for playing—a progressive role in national politics. But in fact it's not so unusual, especially in the developing world. The Turkish military has long been that country's most forceful advocate of secular modernism. Even in our own country, in colonial times, the Continental Army led the Revolution, and its commander George Washington could easily have emerged as a new king (in today's parlance, a military dictator) had it not been for his reticence and dedication to democratic principles.

I'm still skeptical, but we'll see. Military control, in any context, is still a bit freakish and incongruous with real democracy.