Scattershot Impressions From a Lost Realm

On my ongoing "slow news" experiment and the importance of bearing moral witness despite futility.

I have long promised to write a true “Monday Note,” which as we originally conceived it was meant to be a sort of scattershot of impressions—more natural, conversational, less structured. For reasons that are unclear to me, Damir and I both seem to struggle with this concept. It is almost as if we’re afraid that if we leave thoughts and ideas unformed, they might come back to haunt us, or at the very least be misunderstood by those who do not seek understanding.

Anyway, this week perhaps more than most, my thoughts are disjointed. I was traveling in a nice part of the country and trying (not without some difficulty) to enjoy life and therefore following the news even less than I normally would. You can imagine my surprise when I came back to Washington, DC and Damir assaulted me with a torrent of doomerism. Apparently the world was falling apart and I hadn’t even realized it. Which made me wonder: if one isn’t perceiving it, is it actually happening?

On (Not) Following the News

There was the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, as well as its torpedoing of Biden’s student debt relief program. I don’t have particularly strong opinions on either. Perhaps more importantly, I have no real incentive to develop strong opinions on either topic because doing so would likely put me in the crosshairs of some very intense criticism and personal attacks, to put it mildly. If one wishes to remain “on side,” then one must pick one’s battles carefully and opt for strategic retreats more than one might wish.

Luckily, I made a decision months ago to embrace a “slow news” diet, which I suppose is a sort of indirect way of removing my own agency, for better or worse. Read more about that here. My Atlantic essay on the topic was titled “you’re better off not knowing.”

July 3 is a Dark Day in Arab—and U.S.—History

It’s probably futile but, well, what choice do we have but to tie our camel and then trust in God?

Is It Enough to Tie Your Camel and Trust in God?

Just as one must sometimes opt for retreat, there are other times when defeat is inescapable but one must bear witness to the reality and sadness of defeat regardless. I can’t exactly explain why. But sometimes I feel moved by a moral indignation not about the news today but about what happened years ago and never should have. I try not to take politics personally, but sometimes it feels personal. Sometimes, I fantasize about an alternative realm where the events after that wonderful, euphoric day in Tahrir Square, on February 11, 2011, could be replayed, as if in a simulation, where with each roll of the dice a different future becomes possible.

It’s too late and it’s been too late for 10 years. Today is the 10th anniversary of Egypt's military coup—the day that ended the Arab Spring and altered the entire trajectory of a region. I know that it could have been otherwise. The tragedies of the Arab Spring, and there were many, were not inevitable. Nothing is inevitable, after all, until after it happens.

I have a big new essay in Foreign Policy marking this anniversary. I reconstruct the final months and days leading up to the army's takeover, including never previously reported details. What Obama said in the Situation Room on the day of the coup is, well, remarkable. Not to mention Susan Rice’s final call to Mohamed Morsi’s national security advisor on July 2, as the coup was already underway. And also what the U.S. ambassador in Cairo admitted to me after the fact. Sadly, this list is long.

Yes, most people have moved on from the Middle East, but, at the risk of some suitably overwrought prose, just remembering what was—and what could have been—is a necessary act of defiance, against the past if nothing else. Because I do believe there will be another Arab Spring (whether in 10, 15, or 20 years) and I dearly hope that the United States will be better prepared when it happens. Hope, as

Damir Marusic

might say, springs eternal.

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