Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Yemen: The ravaging of a country
Recent indiscriminate air attacks by Saudi Arabia on civilians in Harez (northwest of Yemen) have resulted in 33 civilian deaths, and left 67 people with serious injuries. Those numbers add up to what is increasingly becoming a national tragedy, as coalition forces continue their attacks on Houthi fighters. Cities on the northern border with Saudi …
Egypt: Country of remarkable, yet jailed, women
By Semanur Karaman and Sara Katrine Brandt No country in the world is safe for women human rights defenders, yet Egypt is particularly dangerous for women who want to contribute to democracy and assert their presence in the public-political sphere. Here are a few examples of defenders who have been punished, attacked, who have experienced …
Egypt’s power supply gets an encouraging boost
By Oxford Business Group A $9bn deal inked in Egypt will give a substantial boost to the country’s electricity generation capacity, helping the government address power shortages and support a growing population and economy. On 3 June, German industrial conglomerate Siemens agreed to a deal to supply gas and wind power plants that will …
Re-configuring the Middle East: IS and changing demographics
By James M. Dorsey The Syrian civil war and Iraqi sectarian conflicts involving “Islamic State” (IS) have had far-reaching consequences for the demographics across the region. Once a relatively ethnically homogeneous autonomous region, Iraqi Kurdistan has seen its demography change radically as large numbers of Arab refugees pour into what was once an independent …
Press uprising against anti-terror law’s Article 33
By Hussein Abd Rabu One of the most important readings of the anti-terrorism law that the Egyptian government rushed to pass after the assassination of the prosecutor general, was the state of instability in managing the country. Rushing to draft a law without adequate studies and discussions caused the law to direct a strike towards …
A message from ‘Islamic State’ to Al-Sisi
By Amr Khalifa The sun rose in Cairo on Saturday morning with a fury: another explosive message from “Islamic State” to Al-Sisi. The attack on a building, associated with the Italian consulate, left eight injured and one dead in its wake, and marks the beginning of a far bloodier phase in an insurgency gaining momentum by …
In a climate of intolerance, we cannot call Al-Sisi a failure
By Wael Eskandar It is no longer necessary to persuade the reader that Egypt is a country that has long forsaken its promised path of democratic transition, and whose rights abuses are systematic and deliberate. It is now a given, and whatever doubts there may have been dissipated with countless reports on human rights abuses, …
Will Al-Sisi manage to contain Egypt’s youth or is confrontation inevitable?
By Mohammed Nosseir ‘Youth is the future!’ is a common phrase frequently repeated in Egypt – but those who utter it are referring to the distant future; only when it has become old will the present generation of young people be entitled to claim this promising future. In other words, young people will be deemed …
Terrorism by law
Why does the state insist on repeating history and losing the same old battles it has lost before, and will continue to lose so long as its aim is to suppress freedom? History does not repeat itself except in an undeveloped country and a run-down society. Despite everything we’ve gone through, we have a youth that …
FIFA’s Blatter unwittingly pinpoints football governance’s prime issues
By James M. Dorsey Embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter unwittingly put his finger on two fundamental issues that underlie a corruption scandal that has rocked world football governance, the worst crisis in the sport’s history: the fiction that sports and politics are separate and hypocrisy that distorts legitimate debate about Qatar’s successful but controversial World …
Egyptian media’s losses
The media lost another battle during the war in Sinai, when everyone raced for information in light of the military’s maintenance of their usual policy at such times. The military was only ready to feed the Egyptian and foreign media false information. The media fell into the trap so easily, without even citing the source …
Pitfalls of Turkish-Chinese relations in a microcosm
By James M. Dorsey Turkish football player Alpaslan Ozturk’s decision to risk fame and wealth by expressing support for the embattled Turkic Uighur minority in Xinjiang reflects pressures in China’s ties to Turkey, its most complex relationship in the Muslim world, and a key node on the Silk Road that Beijing hopes to revive with massive …
Assault on journalism, Al-Sisi style
By Amr Khalifa The Al-Sisi regime, from its unofficial start in 2013, has been about wars: a war on terrorism, a war on the Muslim Brotherhood, and today a new war was declared: on journalism. It is not surprising for those holding pens near and far from Cairo that freedom of speech is under assault …
A global tide of terror – from Sousse to Sinai
By Özer Khalid 1 July, 2015, will go down as one of the darkest most deeply disturbing days in Egyptian history. Wilayat Sinai (State of Sinai), an incestuous Sinai-based “Islamic State” (IS) affiliate, mercilessly massacred at least 17 brave members of the Egyptian armed forces. IS`s Wilayat Sinai orchestrated attacks on 21 security facilities and checkpoints stretching …
The increasing role of women entrepreneurs
By Dr Cesar Chelala In recent times, women are increasingly becoming an engine for economic and cultural progress worldwide, oftentimes fighting against disadvantageous circumstances. Such is the case of the owner of a small art gallery in the city of Troy, New York. In 2001 the city had a new addition to its artistic heritage, the Martinez …
Egyptian football player criticises Al-Sisi in reflection of mounting discontent
By James M. Dorsey Criticism this week by football player Ahmed Al-Merghani of general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s hard-handed repression of dissent and failure to defeat a mushrooming insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula signals mounting discontent in Egypt. Al-Merghani’s comments on his Facebook page are indicative, because they suggested the degree to which Al-Sisi’s cult-like popularity …
Another revolution is improbable – but social explosion is increasingly likely
By Mohammed Nosseir One of the many advantages of having a properly functioning democratic system is that heated elections are invariably followed by a period during which society settles down as winners get busy with the business of ruling and losers start preparing for the next round of elections. Ordinarily, the rule of law ensures …
Countering political violence: Tackle the root causes
By James M. Dorsey European officials, describing recruitment efforts by the Islamic State in Bosnia Herzegovina, mired in a toxic mix of economic malaise and ethnic tension, reportedly fear they may regret having failed to tackle the country’s structural problems in the two decades since the end of the Yugoslav wars. The regret could apply …
Hold the interior minister and his leaders accountable
The blood of Hisham Barakat is the responsibility of everyone with no exception, including the Ministry of Interior, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the government. Although it is necessary to hold all parties accountable and to punish the negligent and the careless, we cannot make the incident an excuse to impose more restrictions on the people. …
An assassination brings insurgency to Cairo
By Amr Khalifa Imagine the Prosecutor General of France in a motorcade near the Place de Montmartre. Now imagine a suicide car bomb intercepting that motorcade and killing him. Today Egypt doesn’t have to imagine. On an otherwise normal sunny Ramadan day, Hisham Barakat, Egypt’s Prosecutor General, was assassinated thereby delivering a burgeoning insurgency’s biggest …
Blast from the past: Iraq, division or détente?
By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD Lebanese President Camille Chamoun once stated in his memoirs, at the height of his country’s civil war, that he did not fear Lebanon would fracture into several independent states. His real worry, though, was if Iraq fell apart. That would doom the unity of his country. I’m quoting indirectly from …
Advisory Council rejects labour reform as Qatar stiffens its back
By James M. Dorsey Revived controversy over the integrity of Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup and persistent criticism of the conditions of migrant labour in the Gulf state appear to have stiffened Qatar’s back as it responds to attacks on multiple fronts, including judicial inquiries in Switzerland and the United States, …
Gazan children’s harrowing cry for help
By Dr Cesar Chelala A year after Israel’s attack on Gaza, children there are still trying to recover from the consequences of the brutal assault. The Israeli attack, which started on 8 July 2014, resulted in between 2,142 and 2,310 Gazan deaths. According to the Gaza Health Ministry and to the UN and various human rights groups, …
Notes from America: Ramadan – a personal reflection
By Ahmed Tharwat The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began last week. This fasting month is observed by millions of Muslims around the world, unless you are in China, where anti-fasting cops resort to force feeding observing Muslims in public. The number of hours that Muslims must fast will vary based on where they live. …
How Germany collaborated with Egypt in arresting Ahmed Mansour
By Jonathan Moremi The arrest in Berlin last weekend of Ahmed Mansour, famous journalist of the Qatar based Al Jazeera network, made headlines all over the world. The fact that Germany with its high reputation as a politically stable democracy acted on behalf of Egypt, a regime that is nationally and internationally accused of ignoring …
Departure of AFC General Secretary: Business as usual in a swamp of corruption allegations
By James M. Dorsey Transparency appears nowhere on the radar of Asian football governors, as global football reels from the worst crisis in the sport’s history. That was evident in a terse statement issued by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announcing the resignation of its suspended general secretary, Dato Alex Soosay. The statement made no …
National project for the poor
Ideas are endless; the important thing is that they are followed by a political will to execute them, and perhaps the most important thing is that the decision-makers think about national projects targeting the poor, who are burdened by the weight of years of oppression, poverty, disease and ignorance It is time to target this …
The Middle East and North Africa: Adapting to a new paradigm
By James M. Dorsey The military strategies of the United States and its regional allies focused on bombing campaigns, support for local militias, and inherently weak military forces to fight potential ground battles, have failed to defeat rebel forces in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya. Calls for the introduction of ground forces against Islamic State …
Iraq’s unending woes
By Dr Cesar Chelala Iraq’s dismal health situation is testimony to the invasion of the country by foreign forces, including now the takeover of important parts of its territory by “Islamic State” (IS). The Iraqi people have been the subject of mass executions, rape, torture and, in addition, the destruction of the country’s infrastructure. The …
Joining forces to meet the challenge of climate change
By James Moran, EU Ambassador in Egypt Climate action day was on 17 June. Voltaire said “Men argue. Nature acts.” When it comes to climate change, now more than ever we need to take a leaf out of nature’s book and act together. The international community is working for a new global climate deal in …