Vol 53 No 25 | EGYPT A country polarised 14th December 2012 The President’s enforcement of his power over the judiciary paves the way for a new constitution and a dangerously divided country If the referendum on Egypt’s new constitution goes ahead as planned on 15 December and wins a majority, it will mark a political victory for President Mohamed Mursi...
Vol 53 No 25 | EGYPT Tax threat to IMF deal 14th December 2012 The uproar caused by President Mohamed Mursi’s declaration of full powers on 22 November threatens Egypt’s efforts to mobilise funds from the International Monetary Fund and other donors...
Vol 53 No 24 | EGYPTSUDAN Egyptians return in search of gold 30th November 2012 Last August, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Onsi Sawiris, 58, bought La Mancha Resources, owner of 40% of Sudan’s Ariab Mining Company. Naguib is a Coptic Christian and telecommunications captain...
Vol 53 No 21 | EGYPTINTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND IMF finance for Mursi's new order 19th October 2012 The planned US$4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan for Egypt could be concluded within the next two month. And other foreign financing is on its way, say...
Vol 53 No 20 | EGYPT Courting foreign business 5th October 2012 The new government wants to win back the confidence of foreign investors but all it has to offer is warmed-up policies from Mubarak’s era At the end of September, an Egyptian investment bank, the Beltone Financial, held a conference in Cairo for its international clients, heralding a ‘New Dawn’ for the Egyptian...
Vol 53 No 17 | EGYPT President Mursi's soft coup 24th August 2012 The Muslim Brothers consolidate power and find some military support, while the media suffers a crackdown When President Mohamed Mursi retired the two most powerful military officers on 12 August, he strengthened the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power but the move also seems to...
Vol 53 No 17 | EGYPT Let them wear cotton 24th August 2012 One of the first challenges for Egypt’s new Prime Minister, Hisham Kandil, was to explain the collapse of large swathes of the electricity grid in early August. In...
Vol 53 No 15 | EGYPT The ball is in the court 19th July 2012 Judicial battles are as crucial to the political future as the clashes between Mursi and the military President Mohamed Mursi’s challenge to the validity of a constituent assembly dictated by the military has been postponed amid brawling in court, on the street and in politics...
Vol 53 No 12 | EGYPT Soldier against Muslim Brother 8th June 2012 The first presidential round showed that the political ground is shifting and may continue to do so, whoever wins the second round Whatever the outcome of the presidential run-off between Ahmed Shafiq and Mohamed Mursi, the first-round results have much to say about how electoral politics have been evolving since...
Vol 53 No 10 | EGYPT Presiding over chaos 11th May 2012 The presidential election is likely to go ahead but pitched battles over the new constitution are set to continue Political turmoil has followed the rejection of several candidates for the presidential election, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat el Shater and the Salafist hopeful, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail....
Vol 53 No 10 | EGYPT Israel and the energy crisis 11th May 2012 Cairo’s cancellation of gas exports to Israel owe more to commerical interests than ideological conviction The state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) had plenty of reasons to end the gas export deal with Israel’s East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) and the Cairo government...
Vol 53 No 8 | EGYPT Differences sharpen in presidential poll 13th April 2012 The battle lines and electoral calculations are becoming clearer The Muslim Brotherhood’s nomination of its deputy leader, Khairat el Shater, as presidential candidate on 5 April reflects the MB’s sharply deteriorating relations with the ruling generals. It...
Vol 53 No 8 | EGYPT The men who would be Rais 13th April 2012 Khairat el Shater: A successful businessman, El Shater spent twelve years in prison under President Hosni Mubarak. From his cell, he still took a leading role in the...
Vol 53 No 5 | EGYPT Unity on cash crisis 2nd March 2012 The IMF offers concessions to the Islamist-dominated parliament The Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Freedom and Justice Party, the largest in the new Parliament, is now on a neo-liberal economic course as it supports government proposals to borrow US$3.2...
Vol 53 No 1 | EGYPT What lies beyond Tahrir 6th January 2012 The revolution will remain under threat from the military’s grip on political power, the best guarantee of its privileges Clashes between a military bereft of strategic vision and an ascendant Islamist majority in Parliament and on the streets will dominate politics this year. Minorities such as liberals,...
Vol 53 No 1 | EGYPT Subsidy cuts and crony capitalists 6th January 2012 Religious and political arguments will dominate discussion in Cairo’s cafés this year, but more mundane matters of economic policy, interest rates and taxation levels may do more to...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 9 | EGYPT Mohammed Mursi 30th June 2012 President, Egypt Too pragmatic for the Salafists, too conservative for secularists, Mohammed Mursi will walk a thin line after winning the presidency on 24 June.
Vol 5 (AAC) No 8 | ALGERIAEGYPTCHINA Zoning in and zoning out 1st June 2012 The Chinese special economic zone in Algeria is yet another case where plans to replicate successful Asian policies met with unpredictable local conditions.
Vol 5 (AAC) No 4 | EGYPT Mohammed Saad al Katatni 10th February 2012 People’s Assembly Speaker In a victory for the long-frustrated ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood, the People’s Assembly has elected Mohammed Saad al Katatni, a stalwart of the MB’s political wing, as...