Battered but Still Standing, Egypt Tries to Weather the Economic Ravages of the Iran War
While Egypt is not in the direct line of fire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, its economy is acutely vulnerable to the conflict. In addition to the rising energy prices and shortages that have affected much of the world, it also struggled with issues that reflected its economy’s own underlying structural vulnerabilities.
Trump’s big week in the Middle East weighed down by troubles on other fronts
US President Donald Trump started off his week by flying to Israel and Egypt to mark the Gaza cease-fire and release of the last remaining Israeli hostages. But as these positive developments unfolded in the Middle East, the Trump administration’s overall agenda remained weighed down on other fronts.
Water and Power: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia at Odds Over Africa’s Largest Dam
In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Senior Fellow Mirette F. Mabrouk to unpack the growing tensions over the recently inaugurated Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile.
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Much of the analysis on the causes for the military’s ouster of Mohamed Morsi focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood’s performance, or lack thereof, in domestic affairs. Glaringly absent, however, is an examination of the preeminence of Sinai in the military’s decision to intervene in otherwise civilian political disputes between the burgeoning liberal parties and the veteran Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies.
Egyptians call their desert country “the protected” (al-mahrousa) in homage to its longevity and the idiosyncratic features that have consistently saved it from destitution: a geostrategic location, Nile-fed farmland, and a stunning array of in situ antiquities. While much has remained unchanged in Egypt since the 2011 uprising, including the authoritarian nature of its government, alarming quantities of the country’s precious agricultural and archeological land have been vanishing to make way for cheaply-built homes of low-income citizens.
When King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and his foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, issued unequivocal pledges of support for Egypt’s military government and its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, their move was widely depicted in the news media as a logical extension of the kingdom’s opposition to revolutionary movements in the Arab world. This simplistic view overlooks the fact that Saudi Arabia has responded differently to different uprisings—it supports the rebels in Syria, helped to crush them in Bahrain—and that aligning itself with Egypt’s new rulers could be a risky strategy.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
