Mubarak stands down

Finally, Mubarak has gone. Time will tell what undid last night’s defiance, but the armed forces have taken provisional control of the country, along with the head of the Supreme Court and the speaker of the Parliament. Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s Vice President, has been frozen out for the moment. In this moment of the protests’ triumph, it’s worth recalling Daniel Korski’s point that:

‘It is not clear if Egypt’s protests can morph into a responsible movement for change.’

 Both the security of the country and the region rest upon that question.