Wednesday and Thursday mark Egypt’s first post-Mubarak presidential elections. Sadly, what should be a purple-fingered moment brings some hope and much disappointment. Don’t get me wrong – Mubarak was a loathsome stooge, a petty and incompetent rentier tyrant who deserved what he got and more.

Today marks the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Oddly enough, many tears have been shed for the departed Mr. Mubarak—and not just tears from his military cronies, his business cronies, his family cronies, and the Israelis, who had gotten used to the devil they knew in Cairo.

The United States and its allies and partners must not only understand Iran’s regional strategy and influence but also develop a coherent strategy of their own with which to confront them. Considering the relative economic, political, and diplomatic power of the two sides, it is unacceptable for the United States and its allies to allow Iran even such progress as it has made in these realms.

Fears of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt are ill founded.

In Egypt's revolution, Mubarak's downfall marks not the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. Decisions made now will reverberate for decades. Speaking on an Arabic satellite channel just days after Mubarak's ouster, Secretary of State Clinton called for "a democratic transition with free and fair elections" while also acknowledging "the end of the road is what matters."

Despite the strong rhetoric, Iranian leaders are worried about the outcome of the wave of protests, because Arabs are protesting for democracy, and not against the West.

Choice in Middle Eastern politics ranges from the bad to the worse, and Egypt is no exception.

The situation in Egypt appears to be somewhere between that of Tiananmen and that of Ukraine.