The controversy surrounding the Syria conference pointed to a crippling flaw in the Morsi presidency: Though the constitution names Morsi as supreme commander of the armed forces, the military remains master of its own destiny and a rival source of authority to the country's first freely elected head of state.

For the army, the Syria rally had crossed “a national security red line” by encouraging Egyptians to fight abroad, risking creating a new generation of jihadists, said Yasser El-Shimy, analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“There is one thing we do know about the ideology of the military. That it sees itself as having a mission to the state rather than the constitution,”

The short explanation of what went wrong is that the Brotherhood – like most of the traditional opposition movements – is a product of the old political system, and as much a remnant of it as Mubarak himself. It failed to appreciate that the game has changed and instead continued playing largely by the old rules.

I’m not sure that it’s wise to dump Morsi – at least, not yet. If he’s forced out of office now, the Brotherhood will claim to have been robbed by anti-democratic forces – and that will create more problems for the future. But there’s still no sign, even after the Sunday protests, that he’s ready to make the necessary compromises – and for that reason he may have to go

What I didn’t expect, though, was that so many people would turn against the Brotherhood quite so soon.

To understand what's happening in Egypt, it's important to distinguish between at least two separate struggles that are playing out, the outcomes of which will shape Egypt's ongoing revolution for some time to come.The first is a factional conflict within the ruling elite

another, more critical struggle unfolding too, between those fighting to destroy the old authoritarian system that for decades has denied them political and economic agency, that plunders Egypt's public wealth in the name of private profiteers and arrests, tortures and kills those daring to defy it – and those seeking to protect it.

Morsi insisted he would reach out to all political factions and heal Egypt at this turbulent time; he promised consensus not partisanship, a constitution that would reflect the national will and not the private interests of the Brotherhood, a revolutionary pursuit of social justice and an end to state violence against its citizens.It was those promises that handed him the presidency: millions reluctantly gave Morsi their vote because they believed in his commitment to the revolution. He failed on every measure, and now – despite the cries of those who believe democracy involves nothing more than a single ballot twice a decade – many Egyptians are unwilling to hang around for another three years to hold him to account and get their revolution back on track.

Vanishingly few modern Arab leaders have ever voluntarily stepped down, even when terminally ill, incapacitated, or deeply unpopular (none of which apply to the outgoing emir)

the emir's decision is as shocking in its own way as were the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings

Those crafting the official version of the handover have therefore been exceedingly keen to present it as a historic but normal move, one that might even be emulated by other Arab monarchs -- were they as bold and farsighted as the departing Sheikh Hamad.

almost half of respondents (49.9 percent) said the government is moving toward an authoritarian and repressive style of governance, while 36 percent said the government is progressing on further democratization; 14.2 percent did not respond or said they do not have any opinion on that issue

49.7 percent of respondents said they have no concerns about revealing their political views, while 46.7 percent said they are worried about expressing their views

the public's support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has come down some 11 percent in June 2013 compared to the same month a year ago, while the popularity of Erdoğan took a blow with a 7 percent drop in his popularity in just a month. Most people see Erdoğan's tone as harsh and confrontational. The government's Syrian policy remains unpopular as well