Egypt

No, this is not a portrait of soon to be x-President Mubarak although it is highly symbolic of him as he ends his ruling of only that area that he can see.  Let me explain.

A sphinx has the body of a lion, the head of a human and the "headdress" of nobility.  It also usually faces the rising sun. A protector of sorts, it looks east toward the advancing enemies. But it only looks in one direction and isn't like an all encompassing eye. In plain language it only sees what comes before him.

Mubarak is a sphinx in that regard.  All he sees in front of him is the wealth of his nation - what there is of it - in the few people who have the power to accumulate it and something of a noble class that has absolutely nothing to do or anything in common with the ordinary citizen....and they are everywhere except where Mubarak the sphinx is looking.  He didn't see it coming because they, these citizens spurred on by any number of prods - from Muslim extremes to "hey I just am dirt poor and I want some of that" and everything in between.

Now this/his sphinx is surrounded and he finds himself unable to move like a lion, unable to shift his gaze to meet the threat and unable to get rid of the headdress of nobility that just keeps making people mad.

He also remains looking east - perhaps to the rest of the consequential Arab world - and this time not as a guardian but looking for help. Like the sphinx, he can sit there for ages and nothing is coming his way that he can see.