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Egypt

Are you watching the live feed from Al Jazeera English? Are you following Nick Kristof on Twitter? I am.

I am not remotely qualified to comment on Mubarak's resignation and what it all means. Does the military try to rule the way Mubarak did? Would the people accept that? Would the alternative be more liberal democracy--or less?

But I know enough to celebrate this moment. The footage of celebrating throngs in Tahir Square, the interviews with average Egyptians weeping with joy--I think it's impossible not to see and hear those things without feeling an emotional rush. 

As the lead editorial in our latest edition says:

The spread of democracy around the world is a natural American aspiration, but sometimes the sincerity of that aspiration is tested by the disruptions of democratization. The astonishing events in Egypt are such a test. They are so thrilling in their purpose and so unclear in their outcome. They provoke exhilaration and anxiety. But they demonstrate to a new generation that the democratic longing is itself one of history’s most powerful causes.