MIDDLE EAST: Of Mobs & Monarchs

“In a few years time,” King Farouk once remarked, “there will be only five kings in the world—the King of England and the four kings in a pack of cards.”In Cairo last week an ambitious Egyptian general seized the royal palace and gave His Majesty King Farouk exactly six hours to abdicate his throne and clear out of Egypt for good. A thousand miles away, in poverty-stricken Iran, Communists and Nationalist mobs forced the Shah of Shahs to cringe in his lovely palace and give over to Mohammed Mossadegh absolute power over the Iranian army.

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Joel Stein: What Will Make the Dictators Go?

After witnessing round after round of layoffs in journalism, I’ve learned that you should always take the package, the sooner the better. Yet the dictators of Middle East countries gripped by massive uprisings — some in situations nearly as dire as that of print media — are not gracefully bowing out in return for a sweet retirement deal.

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