Into the Fray: Egypt: A nation doomed to become the Arab version of Bangladesh?

Into the Fray: Egypt: A nation doomed to become the Arab version of Bangladesh?(JPost).

The Greek historian Herodotus (c.484- 425 BCE) is credited with designating Egypt “The Gift of the Nile.” Today, tens of millions of Egyptians might consider the epithet “gift” singularly misplaced.

The recent unrest that has raged across Egypt has once again thrust the country into the center of international attention. Indeed, there is a growing realization that the gap between the challenges facing the country and its ability to meet them – in even a minimally adequate fashion – is widening, perhaps irretrievably, making a humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions evermore likely.
Of course, Egypt has been teetering on the brink of political and societal collapse for a quite some time now – well before the advent of the “Arab Spring” – another curiously inapt misnomer.
For example, in a remarkably prescient essay, “Is Egypt stable?,” in the Middle East Quarterly (Vol. 14, 3, 2009), Prof. Aladdin Elaasar diagnosed virtually all the socioeconomic ills and political dysfunctionalities that were to lead to the ousting of the Mubarak regime, the ascent of the Muslim Brotherhood, and its inimical posture toward Israel, almost two years before their occurrence.
As desperate as the situation was in pre-revolution Egypt, January 2011 still comprises a downward “point of inflection,” marking a dramatic acceleration in the degradation of the parameters of Egypt’s society and in the performance of its economy.
For example, just before the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, the country’s foreign reserves stood at $36 billion. According to figures released this week by Egypt’s central bank, the foreign currency reserves fell this January to $13.61b., from $15.01b. in December, dropping by 10% in a month.
These figures signify a decline of a total of $23b. in reserves over the past two years, wiping out well over half of the nation’s reserves.
Around 12% of Egyptians are normally employed in the tourist industry. According to The Washington Post (December 22, 2012), Egypt’s revolution and ensuing unrest have caused a decline in the number of visitors to the country of about 37%, while revenues have fallen by 30% compared to 2010.
Egypt has long been plagued by dire poverty and dramatic income disparities. Nearly half the population lives at or below the $2- a-day poverty line, and is dependent on government subsidies for basic commodities.
Accordingly, Morsi is thought to be shying away from undertaking any steps that may inflame further violence and risk losing even more support for his Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government.
To make matters worse, Egypt recently had its international credit rating cut to “junk” level (Bloomberg, December 24), with even further downgrades looming ahead, making the possibility of raising further desperately needed funds even more remote–and more expensive. In addition, the value of the Egyptian pound has fallen rapidly, raising the price on imports for an increasingly impoverished public.Hmmmm.....If you take in consideration the Billions 'donated' by Turkey , Qatar the US and the rest of the world Egypt is BROKE!Lets donate more arms so they can find 'riches' somewhere else.Read the full story here.