But I’d be surprised if Morsi and the Brotherhood aren’t slightly relieved to have the army as an outrigger in this next crucial era for Egypt. Job One will be rescuing the economy — and reassuring investors, tourists and the other foreign benefactors Egypt needs that the country is safe for business. Without the army’s help, that may be impossible…

Egypt needs a strong civilian government that can deliver on the promises of the revolution — including less corruption and a fairer distribution of the fruits of free enterprise. But it’s also true that right now, a shaky Egypt needs the stability that would come from a democratic partnership of “the soldier and the state,” as Samuel Huntington put it in the title of a famous book. Better that than the other, more famous Huntington prescription for the future, “clash of civilizations.”