The political generation of Bashar al-Assad, King Abdullah, and Gamal Mubarak – son of Egypt’s ailing president – forms a less coherent picture than that of the outgoing leadership. In that elder generation, many had pursued military careers, and many of their aides and collaborators were engineers and civil servants.
与逐渐退出的一代领导人相比，巴沙尔·阿萨德、阿卜杜拉国王和加麦尔·穆巴拉克——病痛缠身的埃及总统的儿子——这一代政治人物的形象并没有那么一致。老一代的人许多都从事着军事生涯，他们的很多助手和合作伙伴都是工程师和公仆。