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In January 2011, massive protests captured the attention of the world in Cairo. The protesters were decrying the 30-year rule of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
In February of 2011, the Egyptian military took control of the civil government, dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution.
This made many in the international community nervous.
A constitutional referendum was held in Egypt in March 2011 that attempted to clone democracy and presidential limitations.
The referendum passed with 77% approval and a new constitutional Egypt was born.
Elections were scheduled soon after, which delighted the disenfranchised Muslim Brotherhood who held a distinct advantage in organization and fundraising against their liberal, young challengers.
Liberal and secular candidates were eliminated from the presidential election field, leaving voters with the choice of an Islamist Muslim Brotherhood candidate or a member of the old Mubarak regime.
Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president with 51% of the vote in June 2012.
Once in office, Morsi moved to expand presidential power.
Morsi also called for a new drafting of the constitution by a Constituent Assembly that he filled with allies.
Liberal and secular groups boycotted the assembly.
This led young, liberal, secular Egyptians to say this to Morsi:
And the international community said this:
Massive protests broke out, forcing him to reverse his decree and cancel the assembly.
In June, massive protests came down AGAIN on the Morsi government which called for his resignation.
The Egyptian Armed Forces gave Morsi 48 hours to step down.
On July 2nd, refused to quit — and the military swiftly forced him out anyway.
So Egypt's governance once again looks something like this:
The leaders of the opposition parties claim that the overthrow was part of a "natural process" in democracy.
But the Obama administration remains quite nervous about the military takeover.
And many in the international community are saying this:
But if you are hoping for a true, free, stable democracy in Egypt someday, remember:
