If a cabal of Egyptian generals had been planning a coup, their moment to strike should be imminent. Tuesday saw new clashes between police and tens of thousands of antigovernment demonstrators outside Cairo\u2019s presidential palace as a constitutional deadlock hardened into a not-yet-violent civil war between Islamists and their rivals \u201d\u201d and as political camps brought their supporters onto the streets ahead of a Dec. 15 referendum on a controversial draft constitution. The turmoil plays out against the backdrop of an Egyptian \u201cfiscal cliff\u201d\u009d that urgently demands political stability. Still, even if the current scenario includes conditions similar to those that have preceded coups in unstable societies with powerful militaries, a putsch by Egypt\u2019s generals remains unlikely.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember,\u201d\u009d says Century Foundation analyst Michael Wahid Hanna, \u201cEgypt\u2019s military didn\u2019t enjoy their time at the head of the government after [President Hosni] Mubarak was ousted.\u201d\u009d And while President Mohamed Morsi has antagonized his political opponents with a power grab that has put his decrees beyond judicial restraint, and with an unseemly rush to ram through a constitution critics say opens the way to authoritarian Islamist rule, he has been careful to keep the military onside.<\/p>\n