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The army’s renewed role in Egypt’s domestic affairs raises basic questions about the commercial role of the military, especially the fairness and accountability of its practices.
Egyptian officials have objected to the negative stories that have been coming out about the human rights abuses in Egypt as part of a very broad crackdown that’s been going on for almost a year.
Since 2011, Egypt has been facing one of the—if not the—direst sociopolitical crises in its modern history. Will Egypt’s socioeconomic problems overwhelm the next government and doom it to failure?
In Egypt, “reconciliation” has become an unspeakable word. In international circles, the need for inclusion is all one hears.
Morocco’s peculiar political realities and the ruling Islamist party’s patient and non-threatening formula for political change have so far allowed the Islamist experiment to limp along.
Egypt is at a perilous juncture in a decades-long journey of change. Washington should focus on supporting the Egyptian people more than whoever is currently in power.
The recent popular uprisings in the Arab world sought to dismantle authoritarian political regimes and address profound societal inequities. However, they also triggered fundamental questions about the relationship between citizens and the state, as well as the rights and obligations of citizenship.
If Sisi manages to rebuild the Egyptian state, its citizens will be coping with—and debating—his project for many years to come.
As the United States responds to the ascension of Sisi to the presidency, Washington should limit security cooperation to only the most critical issues, restructure U.S. assistance away from the Egyptian military and toward the people, and adopt public and private U.S. positions in favor of real democracy and prosperity for all Egyptians.
Just three years ago, it appeared that dictatorships in the Middle East might become replaced by democracies. Now, these same regimes have found ways to use the electoral process to maintain power or attain it.