18 Days Later....

The people of Egypt have spoken! Mubarak is out and is now ready to join the Facebook group for retired dictators.

The Egyptian people have long been characterized, by themselves and by outsiders, as a mostly passive, docile people who have endured waves of invasions and authoritarian rule since the age of the Pharaohs. This capacity to endure hardship has largely served well the oppressive Mubarak regime over the last 30 years.

Yet in an unprecedented reversal, the Egyptian people used this capacity to endure to show the world that peaceful resistance, even in the face of violent pro-Mubarak mobs and inflammatory rhetoric by the regime, can break even the most stubborn of dictators. Through violence and intimidation, Mubarak hoped that the will of the people would be broken and that public opinion would turn against the pro-democracy protests. He used every tactic he could muster from the Dictator's Handbook, including violence, outright lies, and scare tactics, to convince Egyptians that Father Mubarak was their only hope for stability. He described the protesters in Egypt as being like children who did not know what they were doing, except hurting Egypt and its image. But this chastising rhetoric only served to inflame the protesters' passions even more.

In spite of the protests over lacking any identifiable leaders who could stir up the masses, people came to Tahrir square by the thousands, and hundreds of thousands, because each of them had a story to tell. Each and every one of them had suffered indignity and lived with the threat of violence at the hands of both the secret police and officers in uniform.

Credit first and foremost goes out to all the Egyptians who fought hard for their chance at democracy and freedom, as well as the hundreds who have been killed during this revolution. An online memorial, entitled "Egypt Remembers" , is dedicated to those who died and includes their photos and small biographies. The photos of the martyrs, as they are called by Egyptians, most of them young but from all economic and social backgrounds, shows the remarkable human side to this conflict. It is a heartbreaking but powerful testament to the losses and the gains that have characterized the last 18 days.

Right now, the energy and hope of the Egyptian people is beyond inspiring. It's a historic moment and event for the country and the world. For the first time, my Egyptian friends feel that the future is finally in their hands and that they have the power to make a difference in their own lives and the life of Egypt as a nation. This is a powerful idea that I believe any future leadership in Egypt must reflect on, as both a source of inspiration but also a cautionary tale of the dangers of repression. The strength and spirit of unity under hardship cannot easily be broken.

This will no doubt be a long and difficult transition to democracy. A new chapter, or perhaps even a new book, is being written in Egypt. Let us hope the Egyptian military, who played a largely neutral role in these events, will help ease the transition. There are certainly a number of military officials who were close to the Mubarak regime, and allegations of corruption are not uncommon. But let us not forget, the people of Egypt have said that they will accept nothing less than full and representative democracy. The constitution must be completely restructured to pave way for a more inclusive political path, which must include different parties and opposing viewpoints. Moreover, the overextended Emergency Laws in Egypt must be abolished. But all of this cannot be done without promoting education, jobs, and harnessing the power and energy of the younger generation who are Egypt's best chance at rebuilding itself.

Even the longest journey starts with a single step.