My theory is that for Mubarak to have stayed in power for thirty years with little resistance from the population, some kind of equilibrium had been established. Clearly, some thing, or several things happened, on January 25th, which upset the equilibrium, and put Egypt on a new path towards democracy. Here are some some issues identified by my leadership students which might have pushed the Egyptian people over the edge and towards revolution.
- Fraud in recent Egyptian parliamentary election
- Insensitivity to self-immolation by four persons
- Provoking statements of the representatives of the National Democratic Party
- Slow government response to people’s demands
- Tunisia’s revolution and the president’s exit showing that revolution is possible
- Bombings in Alexandria
- Khaled Said incident months ago
- Increased prices and living costs in Egypt
- Police reaction and violence against protestors on January 25th and January 26th
- The power of hope
- National media coverage was provoking so people wanted to speak out
- Gap between people's expectations and their possibilities expanded rapidly
- Gap between the government's perception and the people's perception expanded
