What is transpiring right now in Egypt is a non-event to the West - sort of.
The 800-pound-gorrila-in-room is Saudi Arabia ("SA").
If Mubarak falls, and I see little chance that that does not happen, then at some point I believe Saudi Arabia's monarchy falls, too. The argument against that rests largely on the monarchy's ability to spread Oil income around. I think this to be specious and faulty reasoning.
The ruling elite in SA have already spread that wealth around in ever increasing circles, to the point where the bizzilions of princes can no longer count on a $1mm annual allowance any more. SA has created the most extensive welfare state in the world (relative to population) and the country can barely afford that state now... and their population is growing incredibly. The idea that they possess vast amounts of excess wealth to spread around to keep people happy is absurd in the extreme. NAFC.
SA is one of the most heavily internet censored nations in the world - so is Egypt. 20% of the people living and working in SA are "guest workers". Most blue-collar work is beneath the dignity of a Saudi and so the nation must bring in massive numbers of people from South and Southeast Asia to do that work. These people have NOT been censored all of their lives, nor have they been sexually repressed.
The power of the Ulema in the event of a challenge to the monarchy has been overrated in the extreme. These guys are the equivalent of the SS in Nazi Germany. Their fate will mirror the fate of many of the SS officers after the fall of Hitler's government. Establishment western thinking is that the Ulema would fill the power vacuum... my vision is that many of the Ulema will find themselves being flogged, hands amputated, and bodies decapitated... with body parts cooked to a nice medium rare over a street fire... and it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
When SA falls, there will likely be several turnovers at the top of government, so to speak. The U.S. is in no position to put hundreds of thousands of boots on the ground, and even if it could that would be counter productive in the extreme. It is simply not possible to occupy all of the Oil producing Middle East, and the other military powers (China) would simply not tolerate that in any event.
No, this is the 21st century, and monarchies and dictatorships do not belong, and cannot survive, in our time. That includes the House of Saud. How and when this comes about might be up for some discussion... but not a lot. And Oil? It is simply not in the people of SA's interest to sell Oil as fast as possible - and they will see this as clearly as the nose on your face when the people, however you define that, come to power.
And the people are coming to power. One way or another.
When those people over there come to power, the people over here are going to be challenged a great deal. The great lie of the Great Society programs will come to light in ways I am not poetic enough to describe. Federal budgets for EVERYTHING are going to get vaporized.
And life will go on, perhaps better in many ways than it has been (here in the U.S., anyway).