Tag: Egypt

Written by lookingbeyondborders

Islamist Political Parties Aren’t Succeeding In the Middle East Because They Stand For Islam. It’s Because They Have A Well-Established Political Brand.

In Syria‘s horrific civil war, Islamists, ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood to radical Salafi groups, are leading the fight against Bashar al-Assad. Once the war is over, Sunni Islamic political groups are bound to become the most important political force in the country. But Islamic politics is on the rise throughout the region, not just in Syria. In […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Egypt Tries Undoing Mubarak Deals

As Egypt struggles to revive an economy battered by last year’s uprising against Hosni Mubarak, private lawsuits are attempting to overturn the sale of state assets during his rule. The court actions present the new government with a dilemma: It’s trying to attract foreign investment while addressing the demands of a population that stages protests […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Social Media Is No Longer The Domain Of Solely The Left, Liberal Youth, But Instead Empower Different Agendas

As the networked world of the internet makes that which is distant seem very local, reality can be both distorted and amplified. The unfortunate “Innocence of Muslims” video served as a catalyst for the dissatisfaction felt by many toward American support of Arab nations. Yet this would not have occurred without the ability to spread […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

The Textbooks Children Learn From In School Reveal And Shape National Attitudes—And Should Provoke Debate

PARISIANS are in a tizz about capitalism. New Yorkers get stressed about sex. In Seoul and San Antonio, Texas, 11,000km apart, citizens fret about the relationship between humans and apes. What goes into school textbooks—and, even more, what is left out—spurs concern and controversy all over the world. And so it should. Few, if any, […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Dictators Go, Monarchs Stay

Some months after the invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, I sat at lunch with the aging Hosni Mubarak. He was then 76 years old and hard of hearing but soon to “run” for the presidency for a fifth time in 2005. The four times previous, there had been no election at […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Morocco’s Mysterious Young Monarch Is Promising A “Third Path” Between Democracy And Tyranny. Is It A Model For The Arab World — Or A Myth?

Moroccans, it is said, revere the monarchy as an almost divine institution, and they expect the current Alaoui king, Mohammed VI, to be an active, engaged monarch, to lead the country and serve as the arbiter among its diverse interests, classes, tribes, and regions. The king, in turn, wants to rule, but not dominate, I […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

New Assertiveness In UAE Foreign Policy

Emirates foreign policy has gone through a dynamic change in recent years. The change is apparently broad and indeed fundamental. It encompasses the very content as well as the style in which the UAE deals with external opportunities and challenges. The relatively small but oil-rich UAE is noticeably more assertive and active regionally and globally […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Legacy of Hungary’s Uprising Has Lessons For Arab Spring

Egypt‘s experiment with an Islamist government has passed 100 days. Mohammed Morsi, the second choice of his party, soft-spoken and hardly charismatic, has managed to stay in power and is even seen to be making progress. He has pulled off several tricky political set pieces – successfully challenging the old guard of army generals, hectoring […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

It’s Time For Internet Giants To Explain When Censorship Is And Isn’t OK.

In 2006 Egyptian human rights activist Wael Abbas posted a video online of police sodomizing a bus driver with a stick, leading to the rare prosecution of two officers. Later, Abbas’s YouTube account was suddenly suspended because he had violated YouTube‘s guidelines banning “graphic or gratuitous violence.” YouTube restored the account after human rights groups informed its parent company Google that Abbas’s posts were a […]

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Written by lookingbeyondborders

Egypt’s Mursi Dogged By Own Promises In First 100 Days

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has won grudging respect from detractors in his first 100 days by sending the army back to barracks faster than anyone expected and raising Egypt’s international profile in several newsmaking visits abroad. Yet his political fortunes and those of the Muslim Brotherhood which propelled him to power may well depend on his […]

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