Smuggling goods across the border between Algeria and Tunisia has created a parallel economy for marginalized border populations. Law enforcement and smugglers alike must navigate these gray zones in state authority.
The Egyptian military’s takeover in 2013 transformed its role in the national economy, turning it into an autonomous actor that can reshape markets and influence government policy setting and investment strategies.
Egypt’s economy is dependent on large private enterprises that have close ties with the Mubarak regime. After the 2011 uprising the economy suffered as the relationship between the state and the enterprises changed.
Egypt’s economic crisis deprives the regime of the financial and economic resources needed to sustain a solid social base among public sector employees, and hence hinders the consolidation of authoritarian rule.
After having made some gains for several years starting in the mid-2000s, Egypt’s labor movement has come under severe restrictions since the reimposition of military-led authoritarianism in mid-2013.
The Assad regime has established itself as the irreplaceable provider of essential services in Syria. Solving the Syrian crisis requires breaking this grip.
Western democratic powers are no longer the dominant external shapers of political transitions around the world.
The Egyptian military has gained unprecedented power since overseeing the ouster of two Egyptian presidents, Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and Mohamed Morsi in 2013. But political overreach and internal rivalries may prove obstacles to long-term military control.
Big business has been virtually excluded from recent stimulus plans designed to get Egypt’s wheels spinning after years in recession. However, long-term recovery and stabilization are quite dependent on the resumption of activities by large private enterprises, which still control key sectors of the economy.
Since 2011, Egypt has been facing one of the—if not the—direst sociopolitical crises in its modern history. Will Egypt’s socioeconomic problems overwhelm the next government and doom it to failure?