Ahmed Zewail on Egypt's Next Steps

Ahmed Zewail serves on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and is the U.S. Science Envoy to the Middle East. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1999, becoming the first Egyptian scientist to be so honored. Today, he shared his thoughts on the situation in Egypt in the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times.

The revolt that has erupted across Egypt is in many ways historic and should take the nation into a hopeful future. What's unexpected, even by the Egyptians themselves, is that this intifada is led by youth, the so-called Facebook children, with no religious or ideological agenda other than a better future for Egypt and its people.

In this difficult time, the military has earned the expected respect of the masses by acting professionally to maintain safety and stability as the guardian of the Egyptian people. By reclaiming the future while maintaining stability, these two forces of the youth and the military offer great hope for an orderly transition to a new Egypt.

You can read more online at NYTimes.com.