(published on Palestine Chronicle) More than eight months have passed since the eventful coup in Egypt, which toppled the elected president Mohammad Morsi after a one year in office. The coup shattered the enthusiasm (which had accompanied the Arab Spring two years earlier) for a future democratic Arab world. This enthusiasm was particularly at its high mark when Mubarak (a dictator who had been in power for over 30 years in the most populous Arab country) was toppled. By the time of Morsi’s removal from power, the Arab Spring had started to look like a fall, at least in the eyes of those expecting a smooth transformation to democracy in a region plagued by dictatorial regimes, acting more like managers of imperial posts than national bureaucrats. Hopes had never been this high in the Arab world for decades, and the subsequent disappointment could have never been any bitter. The democratic Arab world, which seemed so near, slipped away. The obvious questions-- ones that many have