Protesters across Egypt are calling for the ouster of 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak. But who are they and why has their dissatisfaction spilled into the streets now?
When protests first erupted in Egypt, there was widespread agreement demonstrators were emboldened by the uprising that saw Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flee to Saudi Arabia after more than 20 years of authoritarian rule.
But after more than a week of widespread demonstrations led to Mubarak's declaration he would step down when his term expires next September, the protests show no sign of abating.
University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson says the ongoing unrest stems from a confluence of factors in the Arab republic, not least of which is its massive population of more than 80 million -- and their median age of just 24.
While the size of the country's population ranks it 16th-largest in the world, its per capita GDP of $6,200 is just 136th in the world.
In fact, one-in-five Egyptians lives below the poverty line with little hope of rising above it as unemployment hovers around 10 per cent. And those with jobs can do little to combat inflation soaring at a rate of more 12 per cent a year.
Egyptian-born Montrealer Mohamed Kamel says when you factor in his homeland's inadequate healthcare and a neglected education system combined with a rampant culture of corruption it's easy to see where the frustration is coming from.
"You have to bribe people just to get your driver's licence," Kamel explained in an interview with CTV.ca.
Peterson says those are the precisely the conditions ripe for social unrest.
"This is a very young country and people who are young, particularly men who are young, aren't very happy when they don't have any opportunities -- especially when they see around them other people who have a tremendous share of the wealth," Peterson said in an interview with CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.
Approximately 40 per cent of the country's population lives on just $2 a day, Peterson added, explaining that people confronting bleak prospects will reach for whatever they can.
"So if you're young and see nothing but that in your future, you don't really have that much to lose."
Although the majority may not have many economic opportunities, the Egyptian population is relatively well-educated. More than 70 per cent of the population over the age of 15, for example, can read and write.
And those are the kinds of people propelling the youth opposition coalition credited with summoning Egyptians to the streets for a "day of wrath" on Jan. 25.
The so-called 6 April Youth Movement began as an Egyptian Facebook group back in 2008. At the time, it called for a general strike to support workers in the northern industrial town of Mahalla al-Kubra.
The group has since organized several pro-democracy rallies using Twitter and Flickr in addition to Facebook. Ahead of these latest protests, the group posted details of its demands online, including the ouster of Mubarak and other senior government officials as well as a rise in the country's minimum wage. Social media networks were also used to let people know where and when to gather.
But Peterson says, while such groups can tell protesters where to go and why, there's little that can be done to control the mob once it's formed.
"These things are chaotic and they build up step-by-step," Peterson explained. "People go out because they're already angry and it doesn't take much provocation on one side or the other for things to start to spiral out of control."
Egyptian officials have blamed much of the violence that's claimed at least 300 lives and left thousands more injured, on members of the officially-banned opposition movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Although the outlawed organisation's conservative leadership has not come out with an official endorsement of the demonstrations, foreign affairs advisor Jonathan Halevi says they are nevertheless a potent political force in Egypt.
"I think the situation here is all about who's going to take power and what political agenda the government will have in the future," the former Israeli intelligence officer told CTV News, noting that the Muslim Brotherhood remains Egypt's strongest and most organized opposition group.
"So they want to be part of the revolution in order to facilitate their election to parliament."
Before 2010, members of the Muslim Brotherhood held one-fifth of the seats in Egypt's parliament -- albeit as independents. They are no longer in government, however, after boycotting last year's election when the first-round of voting was marred by fraud and violence.
Halevi said the group's reluctance to participate in Egypt's "limited democracy" undermines the protest's portrayal in the West.
"We are not seeing here a confrontation between the Egyptian regime and democratic forces as it is portrayed in the Canadian media," Halevi said, insisting the protesters in Cairo "are not supporters of the values of democracy."
Instead, Halevi said, "Their demands are very clear: they don't only want the head of Mubarak. They want the whole regime, the whole establishment, the whole leadership from the era of Mubarak to step down."
But in his view, Kamel says it's wrong to lump the Muslim Brotherhood together with terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda.
"They are not a terrorist group, they are a conservative, right-wing religious group, that's it," the spokesperson for Canada's National Association for Change in Egypt said, pointing to the popularity of Christian political parties in Europe and the rise of the Tea Party in the United States.
"If we have a fair election in Egypt, they might end up with 20 per cent of the seats in the parliament, so why not let them come?" Kamel added, explaining that the politics of at least 50 per cent of voters in Egypt could be characterized as left-leaning 'liberals'.
Instead, Kamel said members of the Muslim Brotherhood can credit some of the group's reputation to Mubarak himself, and his efforts to push them out of legitimate Egyptian politics.
Rather than quiet the group, Kamel said, "This has made the people more sympathetic to them."
Mubarak was elected president in 1981, under a system that saw his nomination by lawmakers put to a national, popular referendum. A constitutional amendment passed in 2005 instituted a multicandidate popular vote for the country's top job.
The first election held under the new rules in 2005, saw Mubarak win with more than 88 per cent of the vote. His closest rival Ayman Nour claimed less than 8 per cent.
The next presidential election is slated for September.
