Egypt is no stranger to political unrest. It was less than three years ago when former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by his people, setting up the democratic election that brought Mohammed Morsi into power.

Following major protests against Morsi’s policies and attachments to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian military gave Morsi an ultimatum: obey the people’s demands or resign.

What followed was the historical overthrow of Egypt’s fifth President by the Egyptian military. Although it may prove justified, this action will most likely hurt the democratic process in Egypt.

Morsi, however unpopular, was fairly elected in a democratic election. For the military to overthrow him to appease protestors is to disrupt the democratic process that put him there.

Not only that, but to overthrow him is to upset a large group of supporters that helped put him into office. What we see now is the result of this, with brutal conflict between Morsi supporters, the Egyptian military and Morsi opposition.

Regardless of what the military did, they had very few choices to start with. They could either allow the protests to go on and become more violent, crumbling into unmanageable chaos and the loss of lives, or could stage a coup d’état and formally provide a solution, however undemocratic that solution may be.

Neither option serves Egypt well in the end and both result in some bloodshed, but perhaps the military avoided the worst of the violence and the country will have a greater chance at a better democracy after their next election.