Analysis

The death of President Beji Caid Essebsi in July of this year and the prospect of elections in the fall leave the question open about what, if anything, will be done in the sphere of transitional justice.

The reality is that Egypt’s economy is neither on track to collapse nor is it likely to “boom.” The truth is decidedly less extreme yet remains troubling. Egypt’s economy won’t collapse because its international partners won’t allow it to. Egypt is too big to fail and the government knows it.

After outlawing protests and slowly dominating traditional media, the Egyptian state has embarked upon a multipronged strategy aimed at completely controlling and curtailing digital spaces, including censorship through website blocking, arrests based on social media posts, hacking attempts against activists, and the legalization of these practices through a myriad of new draconian laws.

EDEX was a rare opportunity for the country to showcase its military industry on the international stage. Egypt’s recent grandiose arms procurements from multiple sources, combined with aspirations of indigenous, self-sufficient arms industries, are efforts toward securing strategic and sustainable arms supplies but are likely destined to fall well short of government expectations.

The short term faith that Sisi will deliver stability and reform while stemming the flow of migrants may eventually give way to the long term reality; Egypt’s political system is highly fragile, while its economic program appears unsustainable, delivering pain without viable gain.

Egypt’s 2016 Church Construction Law established what was, on its face, a streamlined process for the construction of churches, and also provided for a committee to formalize churches which had been built illegally.

Lieutenant General Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force described by Human Rights Watch in a 2015 report as “Men With No Mercy” and may be the most controversial man in the TMC.

This week, officers went into the Dokki Police Station and threatened to send Egyptian activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah back to jail if he did not stop talking about

The Egyptian government is currently in the midst of amending its constitution, with grave consequences for the political pluralism that blossomed in the wake of the 2011 revolution. The amendments, if passed, will allow President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi to pursue up to two consecutive six-year terms after his current term ends in 2022.

In one of the least surprising political developments in Egypt since 2013, President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi’s allies are moving to amend Egypt’s constitution so that he can continue to rule the country until 2034.