Egyptians have always been a very peaceful people. They never had violent reactions like those we have seen in Iraq or Syria. Incidents of violence in the past were minor, unlike what we are seeing now. What is taking place is, in my view, a departure from the tradition of Egyptian political culture and is due to several factors.

Egyptian society is suffering from extreme polarization. On one side we find the secular, military-led government condemned by the United States and Europe for human rights violations. On the other side, there is the Muslim Brotherhood, which has failed in governance due to a lack of experience. They have always been a social organization, but had never operated as a secular political force.

These secular-liberals and the democratic forces who oppose the Muslim Brotherhood are supporters of the present government. This government is strongly supported by the military, but has a credible civilian transitional government, complete with distinguished people who are widely known and respected. The prime minister used to be executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. Yet the secular liberals are so split that even when interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei resigned, the reaction was mixed, as these groups are not well integrated with a diverse party leadership.

While these secular forces constitute the majority, they are fragmented into different groups. Socialists, Nasserists, Liberals and youth all form part of the secular camp. They are loosely affiliated, while the Muslim Brotherhood is well-organized and can always appeal to religion to gather followers, as evidenced by their protests around mosques.