A Year Later, Egypt’s Wael Ghonim Talks About ‘Revolution 2.0’

Wael Ghonim almost sounds apologetic about his central role in helping plot Egypt’s future. But a year after helping topple the government of President Hosni Mubarak his words continue to resonate beyond the Tahrir Square protests.

Ghonim, 31, was the moderator of the Facebook page, Kullena Khaled Said (“We Are All Khaled Said”), which some credit for providing the spark for the Egyptian revolution. Ghonim was imprisoned and became the revolution’s public face after his release. He might be better suited to help inspire a budding entrepreneur community throughout Egypt, but circumstances have thrust him into the political forefront where messaging and branding can carry the day. In some ways he’s an Egyptian Forest Gump, an accidental leader who never aspired to command such attention.

But it’s clear Ghonim is an important figure domestically and internationally as Egyptians navigate the maze of democracy. The former Google marketing executive has utilized his enterprising spirit in the political realm to bring factions together for a common cause.

“The revolution is a process and not an event,” he said at Stanford University on the first anniversary of his release from jail for his role in sparking the protests. “I personally (took) to the streets not to replace a dictator with another one. I took to the streets because I believe Egyptians have been denied the right to choose whoever governs them.”

Ghonim realized during the celebrations after Mubarak’s departure that Egypt was at the beginning of a long struggle. A majority of the Egyptians know nothing other than dictatorship and military rule, leading to confusion and chaos during the embryonic stages of democracy. “The fact is we kind of opened a can of worms,” he said. “It’s not going to happen in a few months.”

Ghonim regrets the lack of foresight in those intoxicating days after Mubarak abandoned power Feb. 11 last year and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces filled the void as the interim government. But it seems as if the self-criticism is too harsh. Egyptians such as Ghonim now have a sense of urgency about creating a new democratically elected government to benefit everyone.

Egypt, after all, has reached a tipping point: Its citizens must quickly figure out how to move away from military rule that controlled society for the past 60 years. “We need to have one goal, as we had for the 18 days,” Ghonim said of the protests that began Jan 25, 2011. “At the current stage we don’t discuss anything but the transition of power. This is our only priority.”

Ghonim recently visited the United States on a whirlwind book tour that included a panel discussion at Stanford sponsored by the Muslim Student Awareness Network and Islamic Society of Stanford University, and TechWadi, a Silicon Valley non-profit that promotes entrepreneurship and cross-border partnerships with the Arab world.

The tour was highlighted by an interview with Terry Gross, host of WHYY’s popular show “Fresh Air.”  The bulk of the radio interview focused on Ghonim’s memoir Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater Than the People in Power. Proceeds from the book will go to a technology-based NGO the author is starting in Egypt to fight poverty and provide education.

At Stanford, Ghonim focused mostly on Egypt’s future instead of his 11 days of incarceration during the battles in Tahrir Square. (TechWadi chairman Ossama Hassanein, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and Joel Beinin, a Stanford professor of Middle East history, joined Ghonim as featured speakers).

“It’s not a Facebook Revolution,” Ghonim said. “It was the people’s revolution.”

He continued: “If this revolution did anything it brought dignity back to the Egyptians. It’s very hard to think that in a few months people are going to go back home and accept the dictatorship again. It’s not going to work.”

Ghonim described himself and his colleagues as politically naïve but he showed incredible prescience when explaining how citizens emerged from the shadows to protest because they thought change would help solve their problems. “The more they are feeling that it is creating additional problems the more they will be reluctant to continue to support it,” Ghonim said.

It’s a lesson almost all politicians understand. The citizenry becomes anxious during times of economic downturns. In Egypt, the economy is stagnating at the worst possible moment but there’s little Egyptians can do about it until creating a civilian government.

“Any elected government that comes into power and starts solving problems other than this problem will be solving the wrong problems and people will go after them,” Ghonim said. “It is very critical at the moment to bring trust back into the country. There are lots of opportunities ahead of us. The challenge now is how can we make sure the next few months Egypt is going to survive its economical problems?”

Egyptians such as Ghonim are struggling to strike a balance between getting the political situation right while stopping the economy from collapsing.

“Yet is very hard to assume the economy is going to rise during the transitional period because most of the foreign investments are not going to come in a country where people don’t know what is going to happen in the next few months.” he said. “We want to see the new Egypt, which is going through a transition that probably will last for years. We’re not going to see democracy tomorrow. It’s going to take time. It’s going to be hard. We have to be patient.”

The difficulties were underscored during Ghonim’s visit when 74 Egyptians died in soccer riots in Port Said. Some in the West also fear a government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a possibility. Ghonim said he would respect whomever Egyptians decide should lead them. “Now everyone is in the field, everyone is included,” he added. “It is time to solve the real problems of this country and stop the idealistic views.”

Ghonim said Egyptians can no longer sit on the sideline and complain about corruption and economic woes without participating in solutions. The country cannot expect a singular leader to rise from the rubble to save it. “We’re not in need of another Abdel Nasser and we don’t need any more faces,” Ghonim said. “People have managed to collaborate and work together without having a single leader or group of leaders who would say what should happen now. I call on every Egyptian to do something, to think of something.”

Troubled by Syria’s Violence, Lakhdar Brahimi Critiques the Arab Spring Movement

With daily reports of bloodshed, veteran international negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi wonders aloud what will happen in Syria. Speaking to Arabic Knowledge@Wharton, Brahimi says the country is headed towards a broader internal conflict.

“In Syria, we are moving dangerously in the direction of a civil war,” he says. “I hope people will stop just short of that. That’s why we need a lot of creativity from the Arab League. What does it mean to observe things and people are not protected? Whether we like it or not, we have to work on solutions. If not, there will be violence.”

He does not spare the Arab Spring movement either. Despite the elections that have transpired in Tunisia and Egypt, Brahimi says voting will not solve the problems that led to the movement in the first place.

“What will sustain the movement is building a definite democracy,” he says. “You need to maintain a stable situation where progress is being made. People need to feel better off materially, and also respected. They need the development of citizenship, equality, justice, and the rule of law. As far as I’m concerned, those things are more important than an election. It’s not just about elections. The Egyptians had elections. What you need is dignity and respect for human life.”

Read the full interview here: http://bit.ly/zQycIx

Creative Commons’ Joi Ito on social media and the Arab Spring, Middle East innovation, and how traditional media can compete in the digital era

Technologist Joi Ito, CEO of Creative Commons and soon director of the MIT Media Lab, tells Arabic Knowledge@Wharton the way social media was used in the Arab Spring was unprecedented. “This is I think the first time that it had such a strong and important impact on events,” he said. Innovation in the Middle East is happening, he notes, but it must be done with a community of people, rather than relying on artificial centers. Touching upon traditional media, Ito says the industry must learn to make its content viral. “Most of these papers won’t even put their full content online. But now the important thing is to stay relevant. Focusing on a viable business model is important, but if people cannot find you, you don’t exist.”

Read the article here: http://bit.ly/iNb4FK

A Beautiful Mind’s John Forbes Nash, Jr., and ‘Father of the Euro’ Robert Mundell weigh in on a common Gulf currency and the Arab Spring

John Forbes Nash, Jr., Nobel Prize winner and subject of the film “A Beautiful Mind,” tells Arabic Knowledge@Wharton that there is no unified approach to supporting democracy efforts in the Middle East, while fellow Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell says a common currency for the Arab Gulf nations is still a potent idea, and one that will eventually be instituted. “The zone is not just purely economical, it’s also social and defense as well,” he said.

Read the article here: http://bit.ly/kQGv2O