Egypt

Morsi's Cheap Win on Syria

Sarah Grebowski — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:10:25 -0500

It is a peculiar day for the Arab world when a political leader is accused of pandering simultaneously to the interests of the United States and ultraconservative sheikhs calling for global jihad. But strange bedfellows were made when Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi recently announced that Egypt would be “definitively” severing all diplomatic ties with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Lawlessness Engulfs Sinai's Bedouins

Sarah El-Rashidi — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:52:51 -0500

Following the Egyptian revolution in January 2011 a nationwide security vacuum has caused great unrest, particularly in the rugged Sinai Peninsula. Sinai’s geographic location bordering Israel and Palestine and its indigenous Bedouin population are the primary concern given the area’s influence on regional and national security.

In Letters to Morsi, Congress and Senate Call into Question US Aid to Egypt

Amira Mikhail — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:07:09 -0500

In a letter to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Senator Tim Kaine, Senator Marco Rubio and twelve other senators, expressed deep concern regarding the recent convictions of forty-three pro-democracy, civil society workers in Egypt.

International Response to Egypt's NGO Trial

Amira Mikhail — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:56:25 -0500

On June 4, Egypt’s courts concluded the year and a half long sentence of 43 workers in 4 non-governmental organizations based in Cairo. Sentences varied from 1 to 5 years in prison as well as the confiscation of the NGO’s assets. The defendants were accused of illegally receiving foreign funds for their respective work in Egypt.

Roundtable on Egypt's Ongoing Political Crisis

Jason Harmala — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:48:20 -0500

The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a roundtable discussion with former member of parliament and founding member of Egypt’s Social Democratic Party Ziad Bahaa-Eldin on the ongoing crisis in Egypt.

Working Group on Egypt Writes to President Obama on the NGO Trial

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:36:32 -0500

Following the Cairo Criminal Court’s conviction of forty-three non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, among them sixteen Americans, concerns for civil society groups in Egypt have grown, particularly amidst ongoing discussion of a repressive NGO law drafted by Egypt's presidency.

Morsi Government Seeks to Institutionalize Authoritarian Relapse with NGO Law

Dina Guirguis — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:19:39 -0500

In what has been the most serious affront to Egyptian civil society and prospects for democracy since the revolution and even well before then, last week brought the conviction of forty-three NGO workers and the closure of multiple NGO offices by court verdict. While a diplomatically expedient “resolution” may be pursued with the Egyptian government, a positive response to this particular trial verdict would affirm the politicization of the judiciary and merely serve as a band-aid to a deep institutional disempowerment of civil society and the solidification of authoritarianism.

The President: The Arbiter between Powers / رئيس الجمهورية؛ الحكم بين السلطات

Yussef Auf — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:30:36 -0500

In a surprise move just a few hours after Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) issued its ruling, on June 2, on the Shura Council and the Constituent Assembly tasked with drafting the constitution, the Egyptian presidency issued an official statement responding to the two rulings. Despite its brevity, this statement deserves analysis and comment.