Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East.

• Author: Er, Ahmet
• Position: Book review

By David D. Kirkpatrick

New York: Viking, 2018, 370 pages, $25.95, ISBN: 9780735220621

A New York Times correspondent in Egypt, David Kirkpatrick focuses his book Into the Hands of the Soldiers on the 2011-2013 Egyptian revolution, the occurrences after the collapse of the authoritative regime of Hosni Mubarak, and the reasons behind the Arab Spring in the Middle East, specifically in Egypt. At the center of the conflict in Egypt between state and public, there is an army that controls the whole process of power transformation. Moreover, according to Kirkpatrick, the power shift from state to public with Muhammed Morsi, and from public to state again after the military coup of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, are important political issues which clearly disclose the failure of the democratic experience in Egypt. Kirkpatrick discusses the Americans' involvement since the revolution began, specifically the efforts of John Kerry, Ben Rhodes, Hillary Clinton, and then President Barack Obama to control Egypt due to Egypt's role in the Middle East and for the security of Israel in the region.

The democratic process in Egypt failed with the new military coup, and the U.S. took the side of the soldiers, defining the military involvement in politics as the process of democratic amelioration. However, the positions and capacities of Egyptians from various segments of society, both secular and non-secular, including the Muslim Brotherhood, Coptic Christians, and nationalists in this awakening cannot be disregarded due to the fundamental changes that occurred at the beginning of the revolution in Egypt. The problem emerges when it comes to the military coup of Sisi--namely that the same resistance was not shown by some groups that had united at the beginning of the Revolution in 2011, particularly among the liberals of Egypt. The author asserts that Egyptian liberals approved the military coup due to the doubtfulness and unpredictability of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Morsi Administration.

Kirkpatrick's book contemplates the issues informing the Egyptian power transformation in politics through a narration of the author's personal experiences in the region, rather than an examination of the Arab Spring from other sources that have been written. The author's personal observations and collected knowledge from attendees of the Egyptian revolution and officials provide us with direct information on the issues, which can be beneficial for better understanding the...