Regions
Middle East
A University and a RevolutionLauren E. BohnThree young Egyptians talk about their roles in the revolution Read More
Lisa Anderson’s World ViewLauren E. BohnUpon entering the office of the American University in Cairo President Lisa Anderson, you’ll admire the beautiful colored globe prominently displayed on a table. But dozens of globes? There’s a collection of smaller globes on a bookshelf. There are bowls of tiny globes (key chains, actually) on a coffee table. Globes, globes, everywhere. Read More
Islam and GenderLauren E. BohnButler is harsh on the tendency in the West, especially among feminists, to categorically condemn the veil. “Negotiating questions of sexuality and gender is not always done according to the same language you find in the U.S. or in France,” she explains. Read More
“I Didn’t See it Coming” Hossam BadrawiFormer National Democratic Party Secretary General Hossam Badrawi tells how the Tahrir revolution looked from inside the regime Read More
“I Want a Democratic Egypt” Esraa Abdel Fattah“Facebook Girl” Esraa Abdel Fattah appeals to members of her generation to become active in political parties for the sake of rebuilding their nation Read More
Faith and Hope in EgyptAmr Khaled Populist Muslim preacher Amr Khaled argues that economic development, religious coexistence, and international partnerships are keys to the country’s future Read More
A More Assertive Arab Foreign PolicyNabil FahmyFormer Ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy believes that a democratic Egypt will not abandon its strategic commitment to peace but will pursue a more pro-active approach in international relations Read More
From Dictatorship to DemocracyAmr HamzawyPolitical analyst Amr Hamzawy says that Egypt’s new challenge is to transform the “protesting citizen” into a “participating citizen"
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Region in RevoltRami G. KhouriVeteran analyst Rami G. Khouri predicts that the historic change sweeping the Arab world will lead to a secular rather than Islamist political order Read More
Narrating the RevolutionAlaa Al AswanyEgyptian novelist Alaa Al Aswany explains how a nation rediscovered itself by rising up against dictatorship Read More
Seeking JusticeAida Seif El-DawlaLongtime activist Aida Seif El-Dawla demands that Egypt’s regime be held accountable for past—and ongoing—human rights abuses Read More
Rise of the BrothersEssam El-ErianMuslim Brotherhood spokesman Essam El-Erian says that with new political opportunities in post-Mubarak Egypt, the group seeks to “participate, not dominate”
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Galal Amin: The People vs. the ArmyLauren E. BohnEgyptian author Galal Amin's new book is certainly timely. “Egypt in the Era of Hosni Mubarak, 1981-2011” chronicles the corruption and misrule that led to Egypt’s January 25 revolution. Amin, a professor at the American University in Cairo, spoke to the Cairo Review after his book launch. Read More
After Revolution, Entry Points for Egyptian Youth Laila El BaradeiIf we aspire to achieve responsive governance in Egypt to reform our institutions, there are many channels to enable the youth so they can play a role: from within the government bureaucracy, from within the private sector and non-government sector, through organized political and advocacy activities, and through conventional and non-conventional media and communication tools. Read More
Dictators and the InternetWarigia BowmanThe Internet network is inherently not governed. Yet, each player has a valuable role. January 27 teaches us that a move away from centralization, particularly in the presence of autocratic governments, is crucial. Read More
The Wheel Turns for Libya Ty McCormickWhen President Obama went on national television Monday night to defend launching a military assault on Libya, didn’t his address have a familiar ring? Muammar Gadhafi is a “tyrant,” Obama said, who “murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world, including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents.” Read More
The Brotherhood's Democracy DeficitSarah GrebowskiWhile Egypt's popular uprising has given the Brotherhood the chance to flex its political muscles, it is also forcing the organization to face up to its own democracy deficit. While it prefers to walk the line between being an advocate for reform and a guardian of the political status quo (under which it is one of the only forces prepared to compete in upcoming parliamentary elections), the Brotherhood is facing internal and external pressure to conform to Egypt's emerging democratic standards. Read More
A Special Report: Inside Al-Assad's Syria TodayLauren E. BohnYazan is one of legions of Syrians who have internalized the paranoia that has been the hallmark of life under the Baath Party regime. The vast network of Syria's security agencies, the feared mukhabarat, has turned Syria into a kingdom of silence.Read More
Algeria's New TestAkram BelkaïdArabs finally know “Berlin time.” Their wall of fear is collapsing. The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions are fragile. Libya can tip into chaos. But, one might ask, who cares? The long-awaited time of freedom has come. The Arab world is entering a new phase of the end of the post-colonial period, a crucial one in which the regimes can no longer control their populations with an iron fist. Algeria cannot remain impervious to the huge expectations. Read More
How Hezbollah Sees Arab Revolution Nicholas BlanfordHezbollah is keeping a close eye on the unprecedented uprising in neighboring Syria, wary that the collapse of the Al-Assad regime could fundamentally reshape the strategic balance of the Middle East and present stark challenges to the Lebanese group and its Iranian patron. For now, Hezbollah officials and cadres are expressing a quiet confidence that President Bashar Al-Assad will prevail. Read More
The Worst-Kept SecretNabil FahmyThe Worst-Kept Secret: Israel’s Bargain with the Bomb. By Avner Cohen. Columbia University Press, 2010. 416 pp.
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Training Arab Policy Makers Ross S. DonohueDue to its geography and political standing, Egypt has interacted with the wider world throughout its long history. In taking its place on the international stage, it has produced honored statesmen and Nobel laureates. It has provided numerous global public servants, including a secretary general of the United Nations and a director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Read More
Arab VoicesHafez Al MiraziArab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us, and Why It Matters. By James Zogby. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 248 pp. Read More
Oriental Hall, Etc.Madeline B. WelshWhen Egypt’s popular uprising began on January 25, the American University in Cairo became part of the historic events Read More
TEARS AND JOY OF TAHRIR!Shems FriedlanderOpened just two months after the start of protests, Tahrir! embodies the texture as well as the spirit of a revolution that is still ongoing Read More
Q&A with U.S. Senator John McCainScott MacLeodMcCain: Support anti-Gadhafi Libyan rebels, de-legitimize Syria’s AssadRead More
Special Report: What the Pew Poll on Egypt Really MeansYasmin MollWhat Egyptians want, above all, is an Egyptian democracy. For many of them, this means a democracy that doesn’t view religion as either a backward relic to be surmounted and militantly policed (again, France) or an apolitical feel-good faith to be celebrated as long as it behaves (Great Britain).Read More
The Case for EgyptianismTarek OsmanThe rising sectarianism, violence, and the conspicuous presence of many religious groups bent on Islamizing the society in Egypt in the past three months since the forced removal of President Mubarak raised the prospect of the establishment of an Islamic state in the country. To assess whether or not that prospect will transpire, five factors need to be understood.Read More
One Person, One Vote in Syria?Josef Olmert The longer the protest continues, the worse it is for President Bashar Assad, whose claim for political legitimacy is based primarily on the assumption that his regime was the only one capable of maintaining stability in Syria.Read More
Old Funny Song Madeline B. Welsh, Lauren E. BohnVendors in Tahrir Square have been doing a brisk business selling T-shirts of various colorful designs that usually have “January 25” emblazoned on the front. Certainly the first day of the Egyptian revolution, when tens of thousands initially gathered in Cairo’s central square, was a milestone. Now, with the television cameras largely gone and souvenir stands taking over, the revolution might appear to be over. Egyptians know better, perhaps none more than Hossam El-Hamalawy.Read More
This Burning LandJonathan RandalThis Burning Land: Lessons From the Front Lines of the Transformed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. By Greg Myre and Jennifer Griffin. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, 2010. 320 pp.Read More
Special Report: Why the Past is Crucial to Egypt’s Future Michael Wahid HannaAs Egypt’s post-revolutionary politics oscillate between protest and politics, the uneven progress of change has led to widespread frustration and suspicion that the remnants of the old regime are sabotaging efforts at fundamental change.Read More
Five Dichotomies of the Egyptian PsycheTarek OsmanThere is near consensus that because Egypt has enormous cultural influence on the Arab world, the direction the country takes after the 2011 revolution will be an indication of the direction of Arab politics in general. To understand the dynamics shaping Egyptian socio-politics, observers need to reflect on five dichotomies that mould Egyptian psyche.Read More
Egypt’s New Downstream Diplomacy Sarah GrebowskiA curious thing has happened on the Nile since the fall of Hosni Mubarak: after decades of dictating the river's politics, Egypt is finally acting like a downstream state. Sensing both its vulnerability and opportunity for change in the wake of the January 25 revolution, Egypt's transitional authorities have shuttled representatives from one Nile Basin state to another, making gestures in the name of cooperation and mutual development.Read More
Remembering SergioShaden KhallafThe day I met Sergio Vieira de Mello, who died eight years ago, remains imprinted in my memory. I had never been as mesmerized by someone. I had heard and read about him. Who in the United Nations system hadn’t? But when Dennis McNamara, his lifetime friend and colleague, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Special Envoy for Iraq (with whom I was traveling on mission) introduced me to him in Larnaca, Cyprus on June 1, 2003, I was star-struck.Read More
Global Muslims in the Post-Osama EraLauren E. BohnBest selling author and Mind/Body pundit Deepak Chopra has deemed him a “Muslim Gandhi” for his calls for a pacifist antidote to the often inaccurate Islamist extremist discourse that emerged post 9/11, and he has been widely sought in the American Media for his American- Muslim perspective. In his new book Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era, Arsalan Iftikhar, an international human rights lawyer by trade and founder of themuslimguy.com charts out a new global movement based on peaceful coexistence that is firmly rooted within the framework of modern Islam. Iftikhar talked to the Cairo Review about how the Arab Spring has affected his mission and how Obama is getting it wrong.Read More
The Middle Class and Transformations in the Arab WorldIbrahim SaifIt has become commonplace for people to talk about the middle class and its role in economic and societal transformations, and many have credited this group with playing a role in the current changes sweeping the region. But despite the newfound ease with which people talk about it, there are those who argue that the middle class has dwindled and that its values and the role it plays in Arab societies have changed. But what do we actually know about the size of this group and nature of its role, and can we generalize across countries that differ vastly from one another?Read More
Free Speech in the Age of Twitter Jillian C. YorkThe microblogging service has become the digital tool of choice for political and social activists. But more important than Twitter’s protest-friendly architecture is the commitment of company executives to uncensored expression.Read More
The Cairo Review Interview: “People Need Tools”Walter IsaacsonBiz Stone and Evan Williams changed the way our world talks to itself when they co-founded Twitter five years ago. They spoke with Aspen Institute President and CEO Walter Isaacson about the future of the Internet.Read More
The Revolution Will Be Tweeted Rasha A. AbdullaThere is no doubt that social networking helped bring Egyptians to Tahrir Square for the country’s January 25 revolution. But, equally important, services like Facebook and Twitter also prepared the ground by providing a model of horizontal communication and democratic participation.Read More
Egypt's Search for TruthMichael Wahid HannaThe effort to hold the former regime of President Hosni Mubarak to account is off to a poor start. But as the experiences of other nations in transition have shown, establishing a credible record of past abuses is essential to forming a democratic culture.Read More
The Erdoğan Effect: Turkey, Egypt and the Future of the Middle EastNuh Yilmaz, Kadir UstunTurkey has adopted a pro-active foreign policy in support of democracy in the Middle East. Together with a democratic and economically strong Egypt, Turkey can help Arab countries forge an integrated regional order.Read More
Joining HezbollahNicholas BlanfordThe militant Lebanese Shia group believes that the psychological makeup of individual fighters, rather than their weapons, is the key to their battlefield triumphs. An inside glimpse at how the Iranian-backed party sustains its war against Israel.Read More
Jeremy Versus Goliath: J Street’s Brave Effort to Promote Peace in the Middle East Scott MacLeodA New Voice for Israel: Fighting for the Survival of the Jewish Nation. By Jeremy Ben-Ami. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 242 pp.Read More
Egypt Elections: The Democratic FrontCarnegie Endowment for International PeaceThe Democratic Front Party (Al-Gabha al-Dimuqrati) is part of the liberal spectrum. It defines itself as a civil party, which is secular in orientation but not hostile to Islam and recognizes that Islam is part of the fabric of the Egyptian state. It is a member of the Egypt Bloc.Read More
Egypt Elections: al-Wasat (Center Party)Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceAl-Wasat, as its name indicates, is a moderate Islamist party, originally a spin-off from the Muslim Brotherhood that was finally allowed to register in 2011 after fifteen years of unsuccessful efforts. The party is in talks to join the Third Way alliance when it is announced.Read More
“Mr. Middle East” ResignsScott MacLeodThere are no signs that Ross’s nearly three years of serving the Obama administration contributed an iota to achieving a peace settlement. His diplomatic involvement in the Bush 41 and Clinton administrations yielded similar failure. But rather than give hope for a new beginning, his departure only illustrates what a sad shambles Obama’s Middle East policy has become. Read More
Egypt Elections: Freedom and Justice PartyCarnegie Endowment for International PeaceThe Freedom and Justice Party was formed by the Muslim Brotherhood in May 2011 and is the dominant Islamist party in Egypt. It could receive a plurality of votes in the election, although not a majority. Aware of the fears that surround its participation, the party defines itself as a “civil” party rather than an Islamic one, and has formed the Democratic Alliance with a number of liberal and leftist parties.Read More
Is Military Rule in Egypt Really Temporary?Philippe Droz-VincentThe end of Hosni Mubarak’s regime marks a critical juncture in Egypt’s civil-military dynamic. In the breakdown of institutional order following the dictator's ousting on February 11, 2011 and the subsequent disappearance of the police, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) reluctantly assumed power. The time frame for this arrangement (initially scheduled for six months) is currently unpredictable and may be prolonged. Faced with a possible surrender of its influence held under decades of authoritarian rule, the military is trying to strike a delicate balance. Read More