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{
  "authors": [
    "Michele Dunne"
  ],
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  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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Source: Getty

In The Media

Egypt’s Turbulent Transition

Restoring the kind of stability that would allow the Egyptian government to make clear economic decisions is going to require not just a government in control, but also a government that has a lot more consensus.

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By Michele Dunne
Published on Dec 17, 2013
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The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: Council on Foreign Relations

“Egypt is in, I believe, a very prolonged process of change and we really don’t know how things are going to come out,” said Carnegie’s Michele Dunne at the Council on Foreign Relations’ roundtable discussion on Egypt’s transition. Restoring the kind of stability that would allow the government to make clear economic decisions, Dunne argued, is going to require not just a government in control, but also a government that has a lot more consensus. In order to revive the economy more broadly and bring back investment, Dunne said Egypt will need greater stability.

Egypt’s security services were never reformed since Mubarak left, Dunne added, and have been reinvigorated and re-empowered in carrying out significant abuses without much control. She contended that the policy that Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the current government are pursuing will not lead to stabilization, noting that the current crackdown will engender more violence and demonstrations, as the country lurches from crisis to crisis, economic and political.

This discussion was originally published at the Council on Foreign Relations.

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

    Recent Work

  • Research
    Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
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Michele Dunne
Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
Michele Dunne
Political ReformEconomyNorth AfricaEgypt

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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