Flap Those leaders who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history. - President Barak Obama in his inaugural speech. One of the saddest episodes in modem history is that one of the richest and most promising regions of the world, with one of the oldest and most authentic civilizations known to man, is becoming the permanent field for local wars and internal strife because of the lack of imagination, the lack of generosity, and the lack of diplomacy shown by its elite - Former UN Secretary General, former Egyptian Foreign Minister and Political Science Professor at Cairo University, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. More About the Author Aladdin Elaasar is an expert on Egypt and the Arab World. He has been a frequent commentator on the Middle East on American and international TV and Radio networks such as CNN, ABC, NBC, NPR, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, BBC radio and TV, and others. Elaasar has been teaching Mid-Eastern studies at several American universities, at the Defense language Institute in Monterey, CA, Senator Mansfield's Center at the University of Montana, and at the School of Foreign Languages and Culture at the University of Illinois, Urbana. He was nominated as a candidate for the presidential elections in Egypt in 2005. His