“The Dress Rehearsal” and the First Duma

Abstract

As the“Arab Spring” of 2011 Began to unfold, especially when it reached Cairo, questions immediately began to be posed about its course. Did the movement have staying power? Was the world witnessing something historic, a regime thought to be impregnable on the verge of collapse? What about the countryside? Was there sufficient antiregime sentiment there or not, or could Cairo and Alexandria do it alone? Further, what if the regime, in an effort to stay in power, made concessions such as a new constitution, real elections, and representative government for the first time—should these be accepted or not? But was it really about reforming the regime or getting rid of it? And of course, there was the military: whose side would it take, and could it be won over to regime change? Last, and not least important, was there a leadership with a program prepared to rule in the name of the movement? Not for the first time were such questions posed, mutatis mutandis, when that far-too-infrequent moment occurred—the masses making history. Nor will it be the last.