Revolution has "no name, no religion"

The bigger concern for Meunier is Egypt's general lack of democratic skills. In order to prepare for the arrival of free and fair elections, he has a lot of work to do training candidates, training activists to form political parties and training citizens on what to expect from a secular state.

The success of a democratic Egypt will now depend in part on the input of the international community, he said. USAID and President Obama will need to increase their investment in Egypt's civil society if they truly want to avoid religious retrenchment or the creeping influence of Islamists.

But those are concerns for another day. Today the focus is celebration.

"In a few days, we will probably go back to worrying about the Muslim Brotherhood," Meunier laughed. "But for now, we will enjoy the moment."