Mubarak regime
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Social media and the Arabellion
The myth of the Facebook revolution
Today, six years after the so-called Facebook revolutions of the Arab Spring, the hopes once placed in the social media have largely vanished. Authoritarian regimes in the region have long since succeeded in taking control of these channels and using them for their own ends. By Niklas Kossow and Ilyas Saliba
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Sisi's Egyptian crisis
″Where are the youth?″
Back in early 2011, there was a spark of hope. The entire international community appreciated the Arab Spring uprisings, which were driven by young people demanding change in Egypt and other Arab countries. It seemed that everything was going to be fine. Six years later, a sense of gloom prevails in Egypt. By Basma El-Mahdy
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Egypt and the Arab Spring
Vive la resistance!
In the Arab world, even the smallest acts of resistance can give a sense of self-worth, encouraging a long-demoralised people to feel that change, after all, is possible. By Nael Shama
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Egypt's economic and fiscal crisis
Rescuing the sinking ship
Just last week, the Egyptian government and a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff-level agreement about a 12 billion US-dollar loan package. Egypt hopes to restore confidence in its crippled economy and attract more investors. But is this deal the right answer for Egypt's economic problems? Sofian Philip Naceur talked to Amr Adly, a non-resident scholar of the Carnegie Middle East Center
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Political transformation in the Arab world
Forget the people
Revolutions rarely meet the expectations and hopes of those in the Arab world. The chance of transforming political impotence into collective agenda-setting power remains slim while repressive authoritarian regimes persist. By Hakim Khatib
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Political protests in Egypt
Sisi′s falling star
Just days after the Egyptian regime seemed capable of tolerating protests critical of its policies, the authorities clamped down massively on a new wave of demonstrations to hit the country. The security apparatus' ambivalent response to the unrest has raised questions. By Sofian Philip Naceur in Cairo
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Panama Paper revelations
The Emirs of Panama
The autocratic Gulf states in particular are famous for their covert business style. It′s something they share with Panama′s offshore operations. Karim El-Gawhary reports on the involvement of prominent Arab politicians and businessmen in dubious financial transactions
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Gentrification in Egypt
Urban counter-revolution in Cairo
The "Reclaiming Downtown" campaign launched by the Egyptian government is no ordinary measure designed to advance the gentrification of the Cairo city centre. It is instead a politically motivated drive against any form of opposition and civilian autonomy. The "backyard of the revolution" is to be refurbished and its revolutionary history wiped out. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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The Egyptian Revolution five years on
Ghosts of the uprising
25 January 2011 saw the start of the revolution in Egypt that led to the collapse of the Mubarak dictatorship. Today, the Egyptian writer Mansoura Ez-Eldin sees another regime in power staging an absurd drama of fear and oppression
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Repression and legitimation in Egypt
The world as Sisi sees it
A policy formula that only recognises two distinctions – those who are "for the regime" and those who are "against the regime", with the latter arguably grouped under the heading "potential terrorists" – is leading to widespread human rights violations and the persecution of those who hold different political views. A commentary by Thomas Demmelhuber
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Political rule before and after the ″Arabellion″
Internal colonialism and counter-revolution
When an elite ruling class controls state institutions and resources and uses them for its own benefit, this can be called ″internal colonialism″. Such systems exist in their worst form in the Arab world. The Syrian author Louay Safi believes, however, that all signs indicate that the Arab peoples will rid themselves of this colonialism and that the repressive military regimes will be smothered by their own crimes and corruption
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Politics and religion
The instrumentalisation of religion
Since time immemorial, religion has not only been used as an inspiration and a guide for life, but also as a way of furthering interests and achieving specific political ends. This instrumentalisation can be either intentional or unintentional. In this essay, Hakim Khatib looks at a number of countries where Islam has been instrumentalised in the recent past and examines the various different forms this instrumentalisation can take