Dr. Maccoby participates in a Weekly Forum on Washington Post.com called "On Leadership". I am compiling all of his responses to the weekly questions here.
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DATE: February 1, 2011 Egypt's Mubarak: Can an entrenched leader chart a new course?Egypt's unfolding political crisis raises a broader question: Can an entrenched, powerful leader, one who has resisted change, successfully lead a country or an organization in a different direction if circumstances suddenly demand it? Or is it necessary to bring in new leadership? |
The future for Egypt could look grim
Last May, in Cairo, I led a leadership workshop for 30 Egyptian men and women who were managers and academics. These professionals seemed resigned to a dim future for their country. It seemed to me that in the land of the Pharaohs, the vision of the ancient past was more appealing than that of the future. When we discussed national leadership, the ideal was Lee Kuan Yew, an autocrat who stamped out corruption and built a dynamic economy in Singapore. There is little chance that Mubarak or any of his military collaborators will morph into a learned Confucian leader like Lee. The danger for Egypt, the Middle East and U.S. interests is that the explosive demand for human rights will result in a religious dictatorship even more repressive than the current version.To avoid repression, either by military officers or ayatollahs, Egypt should have a transition period to a constitutional democracy with firm legal protections for contracts and individual rights. Political parties need time to develop and communicate their philosophies and politics. People need to know potential leaders. Otherwise the future for Egypt looks grim.
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