There was no doubt that in order to end the protests in Tahrir Square, Mubarak had to officially step down and Suleiman, his Vice President, could not be immediately named his successor. There was no doubt that the military had to step in. But if anyone says that they lack doubt as to what the future holds, either days, weeks, months or years, they are either not telling the truth or are deluded into believing that they are.

The military will rule indefinitely. Might military rule end with an election in September? Will there even be an election in September? Who will be allowed to run if there is? Will the military follow the commands of the Muslim Brotherhood should they be allowed to run and to win?

What has happened today with Mubarak’s resignation is that uncertainty has come to rule the region. If Mubarak in Egypt, then certainly the King of  Jordan and no few other leaders are in jeopardy. In a region ruled by dictators long friendly with us, America has now taken a stand against them. To state that this has potentially profound consequences for American foreign policy would be a dramatic understatement.

Today is a day of joy and freedom. Pharaoh is gone. Today is also a day of fear and trepidation. We hope that the new leader will be one who forgets not Joseph or at least is one who doesn’t want to drive his people into the sea.

Egypt could be expected to aid flotillas into Gaza and to make it much easier for arms shipments and other deliveries to enter Gaza. Israel would then likely need to retake the Gaza border with Egypt and/or would need to place more troops on that border than ever before. Israel would additionally need to dramatically increase its military strength all along the Egyptian border because Egyptian troops would not be trusted to prevent incursion by militants, even if they could be trusted not to participate or directly aid in the incursions. Obviously, all previous agreements between Israel and Egypt would be in question either officially or unofficially.

The Palestinian Authority faces the possibility that its greatest supporter, Egypt, would suddenly become a supporter of its arch enemy, Hamas. The PA has been holding “We love Mubarak” rallies throughout the West Bank. Suddenly the PA’s best ally will be Israel. *I guess that I shouldn’t say this publicly because the PA would then be accused of being traitors to the Arab cause. Israel must be a hated enemy and the cause of all evil.

Jordan would have its best allies (Egypt and America) fomenting rebellion within its borders. It is almost a certainty that Jordan’s rhetoric regarding Israel in the months ahead will be much more hostile than it has previously been. This will be so as to avoid being accused of being a friend of Israel. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority’s leadership all have applied for and received Jordanian citizenship. This, just in case Jordan turns into a Palestinian state after all.

Saudi Arabia would face a highly hostile Egypt battling for hegemony in the region that will attempt to foment Islamist rebellion in the kingdom at every turn. Worse, for the King and his family, is the clear indication that the United States would abandon its close ally at the drop of a hat in favor of a hostile democratic rebellion within its borders.

So, looking at what is actually happening in Egypt, is it any wonder that the Saudis have told the Obama Administration where to place its proverbial oil rig? Is it any wonder that the Saudis have come to the aid of Mubarak, threatening to replace any aid that America would deny, and likely will or are coming to the aid of the leaders in Jordan and Yemen as well? Is it any wonder that America is no longer seen as a friend and supporter, but now as a potential threat for emboldening revolt? It is indeed a wonder that among Egypt’s best friends, among the Palestinian Authority’s best friends, among the Saudi’s best friends, is Israel!

We now look at a Middle East in which the peoples and nations that were/are at war with Israel find common cause with it against Iran, against Political Islam, and against America’s foment of insurrection.

It is indeed a strange new world.

Sometimes, democracy can bring about a worse tyranny. The majority can install a government that is oppressive of minorities. Without a real desire to limit the power of the majority and an iron clad agreement to do so such as a constitution with required judicial oversight, democracies may become more oppressive of minority rights than even some of the worst despotic monarchies.

Free elections result in the will of the majority of voters coming to pass. If the will of the majority is to assure rights and liberties for all, things are going to be just fine. If the will of the majority is to seek revenge against the minority that previously ruled, things are going to be very bad for the minority. If the will of the majority is to impose draconian religious restrictions, if you are not part of that majority and not interested in living under such restrictions, you might not like majority rule.

The situation in many countries in the Middle East today is as follows:

A nationalist, sometimes fascist, ruling party supported by a minority of the overall population, but which controls the military, is headed by a dictatorial leader. These nationalists face Political Islamist groups of substantial size.

Political Islamist groups are those seeking to install sharia law as the law of the land as opposed to modern civil (secular) laws. They also seek to coordinate their efforts across national boundaries in an effort to create a larger Arab led Islamic entity, sometimes called the “Islamic Caliphate.” Political Islamists often harbor dreams of restoring Islamic empires of the past and reclaiming for Islam lands lost to Western powers or to Western ideals.

A relative minority in most of the nations in the Arab world favors secular democratic principles and fewer still favor those principles in such a way that they would be willing to fight and die in order to protect the rights of hated minorities.

In the conflicts going on in most of the nations where unrest is found today, democratic protesters relatively few in number, are being backed by political Islamists who hope that by joining with the democratic protesters they might be able to overcome the rule of the nationalists. For those interested in freedom and democracy following the fall of nationalist governments, this should be of grave concern because the combination of democratic protesters and political Islamists working together will lead to the political Islamists coming to power and simply installing a different set of anti-democratic laws and oppressive rules.

The vital idea to note is that a modern democracy requires that the majority be willing to fight and die in order to protect the rights of hated minorities. No nation failing this test may call itself a free nation. Tyranny of the majority is still tyranny.

The only way to avoid a tyrannical alternative to the nationalists dictatorships currently ruling in many Arab states is for the nationalists to work with those seeking democratic reforms and for the two of them to create together a free society that values and protects the rights of minorities.

Failing this, nations will simply move from one form of despotism to another, suffering and violence will continue, and the Arab world will continue to deteriorate further down a path of hopelessness and hatred.

The primary purpose of these modifications to pure democracy is the safeguarding of minority rights and liberties. While we advocate for democratic reforms and progress toward democracy, mob rule, pure democracy, is not the goal. In fact, mob rule is the greatest of tyrannies and the worst variety of it is a dictator at the head of the mob.

The founding fathers of this nation were equally afraid of mob rule as they were the tyranny of the monarchy. Majorities not only have a tendency to act against minorities, but religious majorities have a long history of doing so with murderous fervor.

Hosni Mubarak is a dictator. The Egyptian people have been suffering under his rule for decades. It is easy to assume that virtually any alternative would be better if you are impoverished, unemployed, and hopeless as many Egyptians are. However, many alternatives are going to be worse in the short run and far worse in the long run. Egypt could turn into Iran overnight.

Not only would an Anti-Western theocratic nation be a problem for America and Israel, but it will rapidly oppress its own population.