Carnegie Middle East Center
Years in the making, Sisi’s elite New Administrative Capital will isolate most Egyptians from their centers of government in an effort to fortify the regime against any social pressures.
As the globe races to inoculate against COVID-19, in Egypt President Sisi’s regime plans to profit from the essential shot.
Ill-suited to cope with any social unrest, the Sisi-regime utilizes mass repression to prevent change.
The Egyptian regime’s economic strategy guarantees that any emerging demands for democratization will clash with international interests.
The Egyptian government’s fiscal and economic policies are accelerating the transfer of wealth from lower and middle classes to itself and business elites, with likely devastating consequences.
While the Egyptian and Ethiopian dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has high stakes for local stability, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are well-positioned to play a leading role in mediating the conflict.
In the response to the pandemic, Sisi’s security dominated government has focused on spreading misinformation, propaganda, and repression rather than addressing the health crisis.
Rather than eradicating a jihadist threat, the Egyptian Armed Forces strategy in North Sinai has aimed at containment, perpetuating a decade-old conflict.
Sisi’s government is instrumentalizing the coronavirus pandemic to pass new amendments related to Egypt’s emergency law, only expanding the military’s legal authority nationwide.
The shifting relationships between armies and civil society are revealing new balances within defense structures.
Structural shortcomings in Egypt’s health care system, labor market, and economic and social policies curtail the government’s efforts to address a viral outbreak.
Couched as national security measures, a series of new laws and agreements are giving the military economy far-reaching control.
Egypt's penal system, defined by severe punishment and pre-trial abuses, impacts the state’s legitimacy, the rise of radicalization, and prospects for a transition.
Russia’s increased involvement in Libya marks a turning point in the conflict, making an Ankara-Kremlin rapprochement all the more likely.
Sisi prioritizes large-scale infrastructure projects to galvanize support, but these projects deepen the military’s hold over the economy and provide no tangible broad economic benefit.
The dramatic death of the former president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, on June 17th, reignited debate about the future of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and political Islam across the region.
The internal debates over new amendments in Egypt reveal the renewed struggle between the president and the military for political dominance.
Backlash against capital punishment in Egypt has reduced the number of executions but led security forces to increase their use of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
Cairo hopes that support for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will convince Khartoum to make concessions on ongoing disputes and prevent instability from spilling over the border.
Proposed amendments to Egypt’s constitution will enshrine the military’s position above the state by giving it greater legal means to intervene against elected governments and prosecute political opponents.