Editorial: Egypt: Bloodshed & Revolution?

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Depending on the source, between 500 and 2000 lie dead amidst the to and fro of skirmish, retaliation and reprisal in the capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Since the counter coup spearheaded by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and backed by the world's 11th largest army, the streets of Cairo are once more stained with unwelcome bloodshed.

And slicing a blue swath through this land of 85 million, the Suez Canal: 193 kilometres long, 24 metres deep and 205 metres wide, a transcontinental shortcut that last year played host to 7 per cent of all seaborne traded oil and 13 per cent of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Spanning 320 kilometres from Ain Sukhna to Sidi Kerir, the Sumed Pipeline transported almost 3 million barrels per day of crude from the Mediterranean to the shores of the Red Sea in 2012. Both are crucial to world energy security. Both wend their way through a failing state.

The 10 million that came out to put an end to the thirty years of Mubarak became the 20 million that decried the twelve months of Morsi. How long will General Sisi have? And how long global energy assurance?

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt...

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