Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East. Egypt is the largest recipient of U.S. aid in the region after Israel and Iraq. Egypt is culturally, religiously, and politically complicated to a degree that makes American intervention particularly challenging. Even with six of their journalists in Cairo in custody -- Al Jazeera continues to be one hell of a T.V. station.
As protests in Egypt enter their ninth day and the situation becomes increasingly complicated, some basic questions need basic answers. We'll be updating this post over the coming days with dead simple information about the burgeoning revolution in Egypt and aggregated links to deeper coverage.
We're using an F.A.Q. model and will stick to the classic "Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?" format to make it easy to wade through the information. (Click through on each category for details.) You can also visit our Egyptian Protests topic page for the latest updates.
- WHO is involved? Who is Hosni Mubarak? Who is Mohamed ElBaradei? And who are the Muslim Brotherhood?
- WHAT is at stake? What are the demands of the protesters? What do the protests look like? What has the U.S. response been?
- WHEN can we hope for some resolution? When did Hosni Mubarak emerge in Egypt as a force of oppression? When will the protests end?
- WHERE is this happening? Where have the Egyptian protests been the fiercest? Where are the key areas of unrest?
- WHY are protests happening now? Why is it taking longer than Tunisia? Why is the U.S. waffling?
- HOW likely is the fall of the Mubarak regime? How would departure impact the country, region? How should Obama respond?
Shares