There’s an old Egyptian joke that took on special resonance during the Arab Spring, when then-President Hosni Mubarak finally appointed a vice president after nearly three decades in office. “When [Gamal Abdel] Nasser became president, he wanted a vice president who was dumber than he was, so as not to cause him trouble or pose a threat to his power, so he chose [Anwar] Sadat. When Sadat became president, he, too, wanted a vice president dumber than he was and picked Mubarak. Mubarak waited