Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Two historical moments in Syria
The photograph is the image of desolation. In a room that seems to have been devastated by a hurricane, shattered windows and furniture, debris everywhere, and a few torn and winding curtains that remain as mute witnesses to the disaster, a man sitting on his bedroom bed smokes a pipe while listening to a record. …
Defeating the Islamic State: A war mired in contradictions
US president Donald J. Trump’s vow to defeat what he terms radical Islamic terrorism forces the United States to maneuver the Middle East and North Africa’s murky world of ever shifting alliances and labyrinth of power struggles within power struggles. The pitfalls are complex and multiple. They range from differences within the 68-member anti-Islamic State …
Educated guess vs analysed data: The importance of analytics for strategic CHRO
Oracle’s Joachim Skura makes a case for integrated data in the modern HR department
60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties: towards a stronger EU and strengthened cooperation with Egypt
In unpredictable times, the anniversary is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the values and objectives on which the European project is founded
Egyptians’ work attitude from the perspective of Uber & Careem
“I will reach you in just a few minutes,” a driver of one of the new transportation application companies told me recently—which concluded in my being picked up half an hour later. The dilemma of such applications is that most of the drivers don’t take into account the fact that the application technology determines their …
The role of Middle East banks in fighting terrorism financing
In the war against terrorism, it’s not just government agencies and military personnel who are on the front lines. Bankers can also play an important role in fighting terrorism. That’s because terrorism needs money to survive and thrive. Although terrorists are increasingly using alternative financial methods, the banking system continues to be the most reliable …
The post-2011 Arab World: change is the name of the game
Common wisdom has it that ultimately failed or troubled popular revolts in 2011 in the Middle East and North Africa have sparked bloody civil wars and violent extremism, and given autocracy a new lease on life. Indeed, there is no denying that a brutal civil war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands and dislocated …
The best way to aid Africa
New York—Drought in Somalia threatens the lives of almost half the population, according to Somalia’s prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire. Over a two-day span, at least 110 people died of hunger in just a single region in the country. This highlights the tremendous needs Somalia and other African countries have for immediate help. In the …
Whither the Muslim World’s NATO?
Controversy and uncertainty over the possible appointment of a Pakistani general as commander of a 40-nation, Saudi-led, anti-Iranian military alliance dubbed the Muslim world’s NATO goes to the core of a struggle for Pakistan’s soul as the country reels from a week of stepped up political violence. It also constitutes a defining moment in Saudi …
Hassan Karajah, one of the heroes languishing in Zionist occupation jails
The curse of bars and prisons around the world continues. It is in those places that lives are stolen and tyrants aim at killing the hopes of those who dream of a better future for their country and the end of occupation of their homeland. Among those dreamers is Palestinian activist Hassan Karajah, held captive …
How could we benefit from the American model? (3)
Proactive anti-corruption mechanisms
A visit to the Egyptian heroes, victims of terrorism
I tried hard to evade a commitment that I consider a national duty towards the armed forces’ victims who have lost parts of their bodies or will remain physically disabled for the rest of their lives. I felt that all words of sympathy and gratitude will not be a valuable reward for their sacrifices to …
Women and their day
On 8 March 1857, thousands of women went out to protest on the streets of New York against the inhumane conditions under which they were forced to work. Even though police intervened to disperse the protests, it still managed to make officials to look into the problems of working women. On 8 March 1908, thousands …
Youth: a compass for democratic change
In the time of the Muslim Brotherhood, I met with one of their leaders, who was the secretary general of the Pharmacists Syndicate in one of the governorates adjacent to the capital. I asked him about the reasons for their aggression against the media and the disputes with the judiciary, the police, and the army …
How can the upsides of the American model inspire us? (2 of 3)
The right to obtain information
The politics of fear
“Fear does not prevent death, fear prevents life,” was one of the most important sentences in the movie Mawlana, based on the novel of the same name by Ibrahim Eissa. Fear prevents movement, makes brains shut down, and allows hesitation to take us over. The desire to be free from fear remains the hope of …
How could we benefit from the American model?
Education, health, and public spending priorities
The government’s economy and the people’s economy
It is now clear, as time goes by, that we are talking to, criticising, and offering solutions to an unworthy government that unfortunately treats us the way an Egyptian employee deals with Egyptians. Of course, I do not have to explain to you how Egyptian employees function in Egypt. This shows how the government is …
Asian ports: pitfalls of China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative
Troubled ports in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, envisioned as part of China’s string of pearls linking the Eurasian heartland to the Middle Kingdom, exemplify political pitfalls that threaten Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road project. Political violence over the past decade has stopped Pakistan’s Gwadar port from emerging as a major trans-shipment hub in Chinese …
Women’s gyms lay bare limits of Saudi reforms
A Saudi decision to license within weeks the kingdom’s first women-only gyms constitutes progress in a country in which women’s rights are severely curtailed. It also lays bare the limitations of Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s plan for social and economic reforms that would rationalise and diversify the kingdom’s economy. Restrictions on what activities …
Questioning the rigid application of the Goldwater Rule
In 1964, the magazine Fact published the article “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A Special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater.” The article included the results of a poll among psychiatrists questioning them if then senator Barry Goldwater was fit to be president. Of the 2,147 who responded, 657 said that he was fit and 1,189 …
Supreme Court nomination crisis
The battle of US president Donald Trump—who has selected judge Neil Gorsuch as his choice to fill late Antonin Scalia’s seat at the US Supreme Court—is a conflict of utmost importance. In February 2016, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Antonin Scalia died, leaving a vacancy at the highest federal court of the United States. …
Political complexities
The local and international relations between different political forces are always controlled by power centres. States are no longer the only international political entities; today, large corporations and international non-governmental organisations—usually backed by powerful countries—also have international influence because of their huge financial capabilities, some of which easily exceed numerous countries’ budgets and GDPs. This …
Media message in Egypt
There is no doubt the talk about media in Egypt at this time is very difficult, and the reason is that there is a fierce attack on the oppressed/unjust media. The media is made up of presenters and journalists working in a television channel, radio station, newspaper, or website. Media also includes recipients of people …
A Psychological Portrait of President Trump
Last October, before Donald Trump was elected as the US president, I, among others, put forward the hypothesis that Mr. Trump is a narcissist. I based my interpretation on the fact that he fulfilled practically all the criteria included in the classification of narcissism established by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). …
Trump pressured to confront Pakistan on support for militants
Pressure on the Trump administration is mounting to adopt a tougher position towards Pakistani support of militants in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan itself. The pressure comes from a chorus of voices that include the US military, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, and influential Washington-based think-tanks. The calls for a …
#StopFGM
The world celebrated the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on Monday. It is a day meant to display our collective resistance to the crime of female genital mutilation (FGM), which is in the sixth of February every year. The fact is that this heinous crime still assassinates the innocence of many girls, casting …
The Egyptian point of view, the Saudi point of view
In political science and international relations, among the approaches used in analysing human relations from the individual to the national level is what is known as “political communication.” Supporters of this approach say that many of the internal and external tensions of political life arise from the absence, weakness, or deformation of communication between the …
Tackling Iran: Trump fuels the fire
The Trump administration risks fuelling sectarianism across the Muslim world and exacerbating multiple conflicts that are ripping the Middle East and North Africa apart by singling out Iran rather than tackling root causes. Iran moved into president Donald J. Trump’s firing line when his national security advisor, Michael Flynn, an anti-Iran hawk, put the Islamic …
When does the scam come to light?
Talking about announcing the new automotive strategy has become like a scam. We have been talking for three years about the government’s strategy for the auto industry; many meetings and seminars were held to discuss its features. Despite the non-existence of an auto industry law in any country, the strategy later turned out to be …