Into the Hands of the Soldiers

ONE OF THE ECONOMIST'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR A candid narrative of how and _x000D_ why the Arab Spring sparked, then failed, and the truth about America's _x000D_ role in that failure and the subsequent military coup that put Sisi in _x000D_ power--from the Middle East correspondent of the New York Times. In _x000D_ 2011, Egyptians of all sects, ages, and social classes shook off _x000D_ millennia of autocracy, then elected a Muslim Brother as president. The _x000D_ 2013 military coup replaced him with a new strongman, Abdel Fattah _x000D_ el-Sisi, who has cracked down on any dissent or opposition with a degree_x000D_ of ferocity Mubarak never dared. New York Times correspondent David D. _x000D_ Kirkpatrick arrived in Egypt with his family less than six months before_x000D_ the uprising first broke out in 2011, looking for a change from life in_x000D_ Washington, D.C. As revolution and violence engulfed the country, he _x000D_ received an unexpected and immersive education in the Arab world. For _x000D_ centuries, Egypt has set in motion every major trend in politics and _x000D_ culture across the Middle East, from independence and Arab nationalism _x000D_ to Islamic modernism, political Islam, and the jihadist thought that led_x000D_ to Al Qaeda and ISIS. The Arab Spring revolts of 2011 spread from _x000D_ Cairo, and now Americans understandably look with cynical exasperation _x000D_ at the disastrous Egyptian experiment with democracy. They fail to _x000D_ understand the dynamic of the uprising, the hidden story of its failure,_x000D_ and Washington's part in that tragedy. In this candid narrative, _x000D_ Kirkpatrick lives through Cairo's hopeful days and crushing _x000D_ disappointments alongside the diverse population of his new city: the _x000D_ liberal yuppies who first gathered in Tahrir Square; the persecuted _x000D_ Coptic Christians standing guard around Muslims at prayer during the _x000D_ protests; and the women of a grassroots feminism movement that tried to _x000D_ seize its moment. Juxtaposing his on-the-ground experience in Cairo with_x000D_ new reporting on the conflicts within the Obama administration, _x000D_ Kirkpatrick traces how authoritarianism was allowed to reclaim Egypt _x000D_ after thirty months of turmoil. Into the Hands of the Soldiers is a _x000D_ heartbreaking story with a simple message: The failings of decades of _x000D_ autocracy are the reason for the chaos we see today across the Arab _x000D_ world. Because autocracy is the problem, more autocracy is unlikely to _x000D_ provide a durable solution. Egypt, home to one in four Arabs, is always a_x000D_ bellwether. Understanding its recent history is essential to _x000D_ understanding everything taking place across the region today--from the _x000D_ terrorist attacks in the North Sinai and Egypt's new partnership with _x000D_ Israel to the bedlam in Syria and Libya.