This article was originally published on CNN’s Global Public Square blog on May 30, 2013.
Let’s imagine a world in which Bashar al-Assad wins a military victory, remains in power, and defies the world to deal with him. Because, unfortunately, it appears to be an all too plausible scenario.
From Muhammad Ali to Mohamed Morsi, modern Egyptian leaders have understood that any attempt to control the state without the endorsement, if not blatant co-option, of key institutions such as al-Azhar is an ill-fated pursuit. The headache for President Morsi is that these institutions are trying to assert their independence and are presenting a range of direct and indirect challenges to his authority and, more broadly, to the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).
This article was originally published by ForeignPolicy.com on May 28, 2013
Amr Darrag is a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a professor of engineering at Cairo University. He served as the head of the foreign relations committee of the Freedom and Justice Party and as secretary general of the constituent assembly that drafted Egypt’s new constitution in 2012. He was recently appointed Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
In Arabic with English Subtitles: Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef on the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and the United States.
Members of the Egyptian press and media who make it their business to critique high officials know they’ve done a good job when they’re arrested and hauled in for questioning. In January 2013 an Islamist lawyer filed charges against Bassem Youssef, host of the satirical talk show al-Bernameg (The Program), for defaming President Mohamed Morsi, prompting the general prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation.
The main streets of Manshiyat Abdel Moneim Riad, a choked grid of hastily constructed apartment blocks spreading out from a power station at Cairo’s northern edge, are organized according to a simple principle: shops and cafes on the edge, mounds of waste, animals, and rough teenagers from the narrow tributary streets in the middle. Rickshaws and trucks battle for position and skirt potholes in between. Men in search of a bit of air brush away flies at sidewalk cafes and survey the scene with contempt.
This article was originally published on Salon.com on May 10, 2013
Watching Syria is like looking through a kaleidoscope. The picture seems to change dramatically in response to the slightest jolt, but the components remain the same. The past week has seen lots of jolts, but no real change in the elements that make up the sad picture.
Tue, 5/7/2013 12:15 pm to 1:15 pmLocation: Carnegie Endowment – Root Room1779 Massachusetts Ave NWWashingtonDistrict of Columbia20036 The Middle East Institute is pleased to welcome Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, for a discussion about the humanitarian crisis inside Syria. Now in its second year, the Syrian conflict has generated more than 1.3 million refugees and left 4.25 million internally displaced. According to the UN, some 6.8 million people are in desperate need of assistance.
Tue, 5/7/2013 12:15 pm to 1:15 pmLocation: Carnegie Endowment – Root Room1779 Massachusetts Ave NWWashingtonDistrict of Columbia20036 The Middle East Institute is pleased to welcome Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, for a discussion about the humanitarian crisis inside Syria. Now in its second year, the Syrian conflict has generated more than 1.3 million refugees and left 4.25 million internally displaced. According to the UN, some 6.8 million people are in desperate need of assistance.
Tue, 5/7/2013 12:15 pm to 1:15 pmLocation: Carnegie Endowment – Root Room1779 Massachusetts Ave NWWashingtonDistrict of Columbia20036 The Middle East Institute is pleased to welcome Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, for a discussion about the humanitarian crisis inside Syria. Now in its second year, the Syrian conflict has generated more than 1.3 million refugees and left 4.25 million internally displaced. According to the UN, some 6.8 million people are in desperate need of assistance.
Tue, 5/7/2013 12:15 pm to 1:15 pmLocation: Carnegie Endowment – Root Room1779 Massachusetts Ave NWWashingtonDistrict of Columbia20036 The Middle East Institute is pleased to welcome Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, for a discussion about the humanitarian crisis inside Syria. Now in its second year, the Syrian conflict has generated more than 1.3 million refugees and left 4.25 million internally displaced. According to the UN, some 6.8 million people are in desperate need of assistance.
This article was first published by Al-Monitor on April 28, 2013
Assertions and opinions in this publication are solely those of the above-mentioned author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middle East Institute, which expressly does not take positions on Middle East policy.
