Atlantic Council

There has been increased talk in US Congress lately on imposing conditions on American economic and military aid to post-revolutionary Egypt, which currently sits at $1.5 Billion annually.  In the past week, four members of the US Senate proposed amendments to the federal budget concerning this aid. 

President Mohamed Morsi has denounced Friday's attacks on Muslim Brotherhood offices and called for action against politicians found guilty of inciting the violence.

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

The Rand Corporation launched a new report today, ‘Voting Patterns in Post-Mubarak Egypt,’ with an event featuring report author Jeffrey Martini and commentary from Michele Dunne of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Samer Shehata of Georgetown University. Using data from four post-Mubarak elections, the report gives a better understanding of the future electoral prospects of Islamist and non-Islamist parties in Egypt.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s statement last week on the draft of a document produced by the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and the slapping of a female activist protesting on Egyptian Woman’s Day in front of the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters, have once again drawn attention to issues surrounding women’s rights in Egypt.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it would defend its headquarters against protesters if necessary, raising the possibility of a confrontation at a demonstration planned in Cairo on Friday.

Calls are growing, both on the streets and in the media, for the Egyptian army to return to the political arena, with some seeing the military as Egypt’s last refuge against chaos and collapse. Rather than demand for the return of military rule, I call on all secular parties to look for “democratic” solutions to the current state of affairs. While these calls have not abated, and we have instead seen an increase in ‘popular movements’ calling for the consolidation of power in the hands of the army, there are many dangers that could come of this demand.

Egypt's largest Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has been officially registered as a non-governmental organization by the ministry of social security. The announcement of the group's status came shortly after the State Commissioners Board recommended the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) reject the Brotherhood's longstanding appeal against a 1954 decision by the then-ruling Revolutionary Command Council declaring the group illegal and ordering its dissolution

The recent Egypt debate in the US Senate could easily lead you to two separate, contradictory, and equally correct conclusions.  The first, more charitable than the next, would say that we have the beginning of a substantive political debate over aid to Egypt and overall US-Egyptian relations which that should be good for both countries.  The other conclusion would be that the US Senate is all talk and no action.  Or, to quote the gentleman from the great state of England, all sound and fury signifying nothing. 

President Barack Obama arrived in Israel this morning. During the many hours he will spend with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other political and military leaders, items at the top of the discussion agenda include the Syrian civil war, the Iranian nuclear program, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, another focus is likely to be the Israeli-Egyptian relationship.

Egypt's government expects to sign a deal with the International Monetary Fund by the end of June and to have received the first tranche of a $4.8 billion (3.1 billion pounds) loan by then, the planning minister told Al-Ahram on Tuesday.

The Egyptian journalist syndicate headquarters is a notable space of contestation between journalists, politicians, and the public. Founded in 1941 and located in downtown Cairo near many of Egypt’s main newspaper headquarters, the syndicate’s broad front steps and large halls have born witness to press conferences and protests concerning the country’s developments in the last two years. 

Over the last two years, my barber’s political allegiance has swung like a pendulum. Invigorated with hope after the revolution, scissors-armed Hassan saw a new Egypt where economic power would finally shift away from the privileged few and into the hands of the people, including small business owners like himself. It was the chance for new leaders with fresh solutions to guide Egypt to new peaks.

The Justice Ministry is drafting a new law to guarantee accountability for the president.