IN ORDER TO GET RID OF THE REGIME...:

It should come as no surprise that Egyptian liberals would implore the military to begin a coup to end the country's first experiment with democracy just two years after they joined hands with Islamists to oust an authoritarian regime. In the early stages of a country's political development, liberals and democrats often don't agree on anything other than the desirability of getting rid of the ancien régime.

Establishing a stable democracy is a two-stage process. First you get rid of the old regime, then you build a durable democratic replacement. Because the first stage is dramatic, many people think the game is over when the dictator has gone. But the second stage is more difficult. There are many examples of broad coalitions coming together to oust dictators but relatively few of them stayed together and agreed on what the new regime should look like. Opposition movements tend to lose steam, falling prey to internal squabbles and the resurgent forces of the old regime.

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