As we bear witness to one of the most dramatic junctures in Egypt's history, it is easy to take a stark position, with the revolution or against the coup. As we think about these events, we need to be much more militant (no pun intended) about sparing nuance from our analytical chopping block. Although there is something undeniably troubling about the coup, there seems to a reactionary defense of "electoral democracy" in Egypt that does away with a context wherein:
Having said all that, I do not think that the weeks and months ahead will produce automatic progress. To the contrary, absent the continuing vigilance of Egypt's people power, things can take a dramatic turn for the worse. Although the Egyptian street has not been naive in its planning and approach, it is now open to possibility that the military use this unprecedented popular showing as an instrument to reassert itself. A LOT has been written about Egypt in the past few days- and that's an understatement. To help you navigate through it here are my suggested readings: Down With Military Rule...Again?, Hesham Sallam Sallam unpacks the misleading binary between military coup and democracy as he places current events in Egypt into vivid context. The Seven Deadly Sins of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khaled Fahmy Fahmy explains how the Muslim Brotherhood has been its own worst enemy in its twelve-months in power. Why the Western Media Are Getting Egypt Wrong?, Khaled Shaalan Shaalan takes on simplistic and overeager media who have reduced current events in Egypt into a battle between the military and Islamists. Egypt's Democratic Outlaws, Abdullah Al-Arian Al-Arian inserts at least two new elements into the conversation worth considering: 1) the reaction to the Muslim Brotherhood's missteps are especially harsh precisely because of the Brotherhood's legacy within Egypt; and 2) the ousting of President Morsi has foreclosed, "possibly forever, the opportunity to witness the Muslim Brotherhood humbled through its preferred method of political contestation." For ongoing developments, I suggest following Jadaliyya’s Egypt Page.
6 Comments
Sophie Smyth
7/4/2013 11:28:29 pm
Thanks, its really helpful to have an insiders' view.
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Aase
7/6/2013 01:57:49 am
Hej Jacob tak for din analyse - det er godt med nuanceret Info Mange hilsner fra Aase
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7/5/2013 07:56:11 am
Fine article. Also what should be mentioned is Morsi's betrayal of the Palestinians in Gaza, his refusal to open the border to Gaza to trade and his attacks on the tunnels http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/24/us-palestinians-egypt-tunnels-idUSBRE95N0H220130624
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David
7/6/2013 05:41:27 am
There is much more to democracy than elections.
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8/24/2016 11:54:03 am
That was interesting, but it feels like I lack knowledge on the topic. Thus, I'll check more information on this.
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