Atlantic Council

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. 

Muhammad Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt, as the textbooks say, took possession of all the land of Egypt for himself and his heirs. Ownership of this land, both agricultural and residential, was thus passed to his descendants and the feudal lords with whom they associated. In this way, large tracts of land in Mansoura, a city located about 180 km from Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and is itself the capital of the Governorate of Dakahlia, and surrounding villages fell under what was called the endowment of Princess Fatima.

Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki on Sunday slammed the public lynching of two men accused of theft in Egypt's Gharbiya governorate, describing the incident as a sign of "the death of the state."

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

Throughout its history, student activism played a crucial role in Egypt’s political and social scene. Starting with their struggle against the British occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the 20th century, to the opposition of leftist student bloc to the capitalist policies of former president Anwar al-Sadat in the 1970s, all the way to the current era where the number of students affiliated with political Islam groups rose significantly. But what caused such a dramatic increase in the numbers of Islamist-affiliated students?

There is no denying that the political situation in Egypt is very complicated. Many of those who formerly supported President Mohamed Morsi and his party have since joined the ranks of the opposition, after seeing him ignore or break outright the promises he made on a number of issues. 

The Muslim Brotherhood warns that a UN declaration on women's rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband's approval and letting her control family spending.

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) issued a highly critical statement yesterday against the draft proposal of the UN declaration on women’s rights.  The Muslim Brotherhood statement says that the proposed draft includes articles “that contradict established principles of Islam, undermine Islamic ethics and destroy the family”, and, if ratified, “would lead to [the] complete disintegration of society.”

The EU should withhold budget support from Egypt unless it makes significant progress with human rights, democracy and the rule of law, say MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday. 

With continuing uncertainty surrounding the timing and the content of the $4.8 billion IMF program, it has been suggested that in the meantime Egypt take a short-term emergency IMF loan to meet its immediate foreign exchange needs. However no sooner than the IMF offer was made, Finance Minister Hegazy and cabinet spokesman al-Hadidi rejected it out of hand, saying that Egypt was still focused on the larger loan based on the economic program the government had prepared and was now ready to discuss with the IMF.  The smaller emergency loan was not in the cards.

The Atlantic Council’s Middle East Peace and Security Initiative released a new issue brief today: “A Strategy for US Engagement in the Middle East: Contain Threats, Embrace Dignity."