It’s been two years since the revolution that removed Egypt’s longtime dictator, Hosni Mubarak, from power, and the aura of hope for a democratic peace has slowly eroded into a restless uncertainty among the frustrated Egyptian public.

Violent civil unrest continues to ensue throughout the nation, with the most recent upsurge occurring on the two-year anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. This violence stems appears to stem from two sources: 1. the ruling a judge gave for 21 people to receive the capital punishment for their roles in the “massacre at Port Said” riot that occurred after a football game on February 1, 2012 and 2. the general dissatisfaction Egyptians now feel towards their first democratically elected leader, Morsy, viewing him as ‘power-hoarding’ and ‘slow’ at achieving any substantial progress towards a stable and functional democracy.

What happens now? Ahmed and Yan at CNN ask. The answer is unclear, Morsy is holding a meeting today with representatives from 11 different political parties to discuss and address some of the issues currently facing Egypt . The pessimist and the optimist in me are vying to give very different answers to the question being posed. To take the safer route, I will give my answer from a realist’s perspective: while I believe that Egypt will eventually be a peaceful democratic state, with properly functioning democratic institutions, I think that the path towards such an end is going to be a long and arduous one.