96 Articles
Ziad A. Akl is a political analyst and sociologist. He is a senior researcher at the Egyptian Studies Unit in Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
By virtue of my studies, my work and my own individual perversions, I happen to be one of those who enjoy reading political theory. However, I do not intend to actually write about political or social theory. I simply wanted to point out to how in different political and social theories from different times, perspectives …
If somehow we managed to research the words used most frequently by Egyptians in the past three months, Iâm sure âAl-Sisiâ would come high up on that list. You can easily recognise the kind of political atmosphere youâre caught in the middle of simply by noticing the reactions of people to the Generalâs name. Al-Sisi …
There was a taste lost between bitterness, anger and shock last Thursday when the news about the attempt to assassinate the Minister of Interior was out. I donât know how many of you lived in Egypt in the early 90s, but there was a time that I most clearly remember where such acts of terror …
The title is originally sociologist James Loewenâs. In 1995, Loewen published his book Lies My Teacher Told Me, closely and carefully chasing historical inaccuracies that the high school educational system is so full of. Issues like slavery, the relationship with the natives and how national heroes are sort of custom tailored. Â To make a long …
So the ridiculous bipolarity continues; the army-Muslim Brotherhood conflict still very much shapes the perceptions of Egyptians. But whatâs been happening this last week is beyond ridiculous, beyond inhuman and beyond sad. Suddenly, all standing political actors stopped representing humanity. Both the army and the Brotherhood are locked in a hatred-fuelled circle that springs out …
What really went wrong in Egypt was how rigid its politics became, Ziad Akl writes
The Muslim Brotherhood refuses to be anything but a problematic âexistenceâ. Trying to identify what kind of political entity the Brotherhood is has always been problematic. Trying to work with the Brotherhood during Mubarakâs late years hasnât been an easy process either. Adapting to the Brotherhoodâs repeated administrative failures during former president Mohamed Morsiâs presidency …
So the day is done and as expected millions took to the streets in response to General Abdul Fatah Al-Sisiâs call to authorise the army to âfight terrorism.â Scenes from yesterdayâs different marches and demonstrations show how confusing things were. It was indeed more of a pro-army and pro-Sisi mobilisation than an anti-terrorism event. I …
Three weeks have passed since the Egyptian armyâs commander-in-chief Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi made his very impressive and deservingly historic speech announcing the ouster of Mohamed Morsi from the presidency. Those three weeks saw many developments: politically, economically and even socially. Among these developments is an unmistakable and blatantly obvious increase in the armyâs popularity. It …
Indeed, Egyptian people together with the Egyptian state have proved to be much more interesting than the majority would have thought. What happened in the beginning of July was surprising to so many people around the world and once more, to Egyptians themselves. A week ago we were busy debating terminology and whether what happened …
When we celebrated the end of Mubarakâs rule on 11 February 2011, we did not expect to do it again two and a half years later. This is not one of the articles that talk about how great the Egyptian people are, and start taking you in an endless journey through historical achievements that date …
President Mohamed Morsi has been stubborn and closed-minded towards his interpretation of todayâs events. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood clearly fell in the stateâs institutional trap. Similar to Mubarakâs last 10 years in office, Morsi over this past year was constantly losing contact with the street and relying more and more on the state and …
I havenât thought about the âold regimeâ in quite a while. In fact, I think the Muslim Brotherhoodâs unique act over the past year has made most of us realise the new lows that we have reached with Morsi and his people. Mubarakâs regime always mixed corruption with inefficiency. Morsiâs regime maintained the same formula, …
A big day awaits the Muslim Brotherhood on 30 June. Sometimes when I look back at the events of the past two years, I realise how well-prepared the Muslim Brotherhood was. Since the Brotherhood was certain Hosni Mubarakâs regime would not compensate it for refraining from joining demonstrations, the Islamist group moved on to their …
The one year anniversary of Mohamed Morsiâs election is approaching fast. From a substitute candidate to a very controversial president; Morsi remains one of the revolutionâs big surprises. During the 18 days back at the square, we had a strange sense of certainty that there could be no president from the Muslim Brotherhood. I even …
On my way back home from a friendâs house on Friday night I was wondering what I would write my article about in a few hours, since I usually write on Saturday mornings. Well, I was handed the topic out of the blue. What I am about to tell you took place between Friday night …
Last August I wrote a column titled âSinai: unanswered questionsâ, the column was a few days after the attack on the Egyptian soldiers in Sinai at the beginning of Ramadan last year. In case people had forgotten what happened, or got mixed up between the August attack and any other attack on Sinai, the one …
There are specific signs that differentiate political revolutions from social ones. Both types and patterns of revolution do entail a series of changes and transformations although on different levels. Social revolutions change property relations and redistribute wealth. There is an obvious and tangible class-based empowerment within social revolutions. The pace of change in social revolutions …
When you walk down the streets of Cairo, you will see all kinds and ages of Egyptians complaining about the Muslim Brotherhood and how they’re governing (probably including yourself). Next time you see or speak to one of these people please ask them, “what is it did you personally do about it”? Those who canât …
On my way home last Friday I saw 5 boys, couldnât be more than 14. They were running between cars in one of Zamalekâs busy streets trying to catch a look at women driving in short skirts or low-cut tops. They regrouped after the raid ended next to my car, I opened up my window …
Congratulations everyone, the Muslim Brotherhood is back, this time bigger and better, reaching further and deeper into everything. This absurd statement is unfortunately the overall meaning of the chain of events starting with the Cabinet reshuffle and ending last night with the arrest of Ahmad Maher. First of all, the issue is not one of …
The scientific definition of insanity is making the same mistakes and expecting different results. There is a structural problem in the government that requires a fundamental reform of policies and change of personnel. The first step in this reform process is relieving Prime Minister Hesham Qandil of his duties because he clearly cannot deliver. However, …
There is an old joke about an important minister who had an interview on national television. As they were rehearsing, the host asked the minister “what is the thing that you love most” and the minister says “Sex”, the host explains to him that when they’re on air he canât say sex; he should say …
Sometimes I have to go through excruciating pain to try and write in English about the basic rationale of Egyptian folk wisdom. While I always manage to convey the basic points behind such statements, there is a specific sense conveyed by these statements in Arabic. I say this because the amount of debate that took …
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article right here on sectarianism in Egypt. The feedback I got was a wave of phone calls and emails all acknowledging the existence of sectarianism. In fact, there are some who called me and expressed their relief that finally we are talking about our sectarian problems without …
Unfortunately, revolutions come at a price. The whole idea of revolting is to destroy the connection with the status quo, and this connection can be broken in two main ways. You either break the connection, celebrate its destruction, propose a different status quo, implement it and build a new connection; or simply break the connection, …
For the past 10 years, Egypt has been reminded at least annually of its sectarian time bomb. If your only source of information were Egyptian media, sectarianism would be the work of a radical few, but never a serious problem inherent within Egyptian Society. But if you take a closer look at the lives of …
As soon as our blessed revolution succeeded in realising its main demand and remove Mubarak from office, a streaming flood of Islamists ran through all veins of life in Egypt. Suddenly, ideology became identity, difference became blasphemy and tolerance became treachery. Since way before and during the 18 days, the Islamists felt an over-estimated sense …
âBetween the opposite ends of two ridiculous extremes, lies a true Egypt (without a true Egyptian)!â
Almost nine months have passed since Mohamed Morsi was declared President. Nine months went by with the Muslim Brotherhood on top of state institutions, state authorities and in charge of political policies. Last summer when Morsi went to Tahrir Square for the first time, I was debating with a friend whether this experiment would be …