Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Diminishing conventional energy sources versus economy growth
By the rate of consumption of crude oil which is around 4.5bn tons per year from 2010, and which is growing every year, oil is expected to be depleted by the year 2050.
Qatar backtracks on engagement with critics
By James M. Dorsey After four years of engagement with its critics in a so-far failed bid to turn its hosting of the World Cup into a successful soft power tool, Qatar appears to have decided that the region’s tendency to intimidate those who don’t fall into line may be a more effective strategy. In doing so, Qatar …
Smart Development Goals
By Finn Kydland, Bjorn Lomborg, Tom Schelling and Nancy Stokey By September, the world’s 193 governments will meet in New York and agree on a set of ambitious, global targets for 2030. Over the next 15 years, these targets will direct the $2.5tr to be spent on development assistance, as well as countless trillions in …
Proper execution of the new visa-on-arrival system is important for Egyptian tourism
By Thomas Doherty The good news is that tourism to Egypt has shown some growth this year, with an increase of 5.5% in January over the previous year, according to the government’s statistical bureau. This growth means hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange and GDP, with the corresponding growth of jobs and income for …
‘Islamic State’ and the Popular Mobilisation militias’ confrontation in Ramadi
By Khaled Okasha Before dawn last Friday in Al-Anbar in Iraq, “Islamic State” (IS) took over the government complex in Ramadi, the capital of the province. In the meantime, news spread that the security forces retreated from the complex following violent clashes with IS. The government complex includes the province’s office, Al-Anbar’s police department, the …
Haber’s messages prior to Al-Sisi’s visit to Germany
By Emad El-Sayed “Al-Sisi’s visit to Germany will not be an easy one.” This was my impression after meeting with a journalist delegation and the German ambassador in Cairo, Hansjörg Haber. Haber sent direct messages to Al-Sisi regarding the questions for clarification that he will face during his visit to Germany next month. The messages the …
Justice Minister Al-Zind: a perfect representation of the times
“We [judges] are the masters and the rest are the slaves” is indeed the most memorable quote by Egypt’s new Justice Minister Ahmed Al-Zind, head of the Judges’ Club. The rest of this sentence as said by Al-Zind during a phone interview on a TV show was: “Whatever represents an attack on the Judiciary’s prestige, …
6 things that Egypt can do to boost tourism
By Thomas Doherty President Al-Sisi has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the tourism sector. The head of the Egyptian Tourist Authority Samy Mahmoud said he wants to target the Asian and Russian markets, and the former head of the Federation of Tourism Chambers Elhamy Elzayat has called for more investment in tourist infrastructure. Tourism will …
Fighting non-communicable diseases could save 5 million lives
By Dr Bjørn Lomborg In rich countries, the biggest causes of death are strokes, heart attacks and cancer, accounting for more than two-thirds of all deaths. But for the poorer world, people often assume that infectious diseases like diarrhoea, tuberculosis, AIDS, malaria, measles and tetanus are the biggest killers. That is no longer true. While …
Investment and finance ministers should switch positions
By Naguib Sawiris Many people, including traders, believe that the stock market is a place for venture and quick profit, not knowing that its real goal is to present investments for investment funds and individuals, both locally and globally in companies’ capitalthrough this mechanism that allows investments by buying and selling shares on desiring to …
Egypt bans ultras in bid to break anti-government protests
By James M. Dorsey An Egyptian court has banned militant football fan groups or ultras as terrorist organisations in a bid to break the backbone of anti-government protests. The ruling pushes further underground groups that often offer despairing youth a rare opportunity to vent their pent-up anger and frustration peacefully. Ultras have for the past …
Notes from America: Muslims and Christians – At war in life, at peace in death
By Ahmed Tharwat Standing along with a few hundred Muslims at the Garden of Eden Islamic Cemetery located in a remote corner of a Christian cemetery in Burnsville, Minnesota, mourning the death of one of our friends, the reverences and the respect were not just given by Muslims, but also by the staff and workers …
Central Bank of Egypt leans on currency devaluation
By Oxford Business Group A series of moves by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to devalue the pound and limit dollar activity are expected to help shore up foreign reserves and eliminate black-market currency trading. The controlled devaluation of the currency earlier this year from EGP 7.14 to EGP 7.62 to the dollar has …
Should citizens stand up for their moral values or for their nations’ policies?
By Mohammed Nosseir Nations do not only evolve through good governance, but also, and more importantly, by abiding with certain moral values advocated by their citizens. Moral values are the hidden qualities that influence the entire society. A lack of awareness of their significance does not undermine their importance, and it should not discourage people …
Judicial bullets and Egyptian insecurity
Egypt has become one massive kangaroo court for Islamist opponents of the Al-Sisi regime. The security repercussions of such systematic repression and injustice may potentially lead the shortening of the life span of a regime struggling to maintain a security hold on a nation increasingly plagued by terror attacks. In a rational dynamic of politically …
Why Germany should pay war reparations to Greece
By Dr Cesar Chelala In 1960, the then Federal Republic of Germany paid Greece DM115m on account of compensation for Nazi crimes. Greek governments stated that this was only a fraction of what is due on account of loss of life, damaged infrastructure, and the repayment of a forced loan the Nazis extracted on Greece in 1942. Recent statements by leading …
Egyptian Ministry of Injustice
By Amr Khalifa A minister is gone but injustice remains. At a time when Egypt longs with the desperation of a hungry toddler for its mother’s milk for justice, its minister of ‘justice’ has been ushered stage politically. Mahfouz Saber’s mistake was not uttering a politically embarrassing classist diatribe, but rather it was saying a …
Will the parliamentary elections be held?
Some people may not remember that the parliamentary elections were supposed to take place in October 2014, but were postponed more than once, and we are now in May 2015. The new promise is that the elections will be held after Eid Al-Fitr, roughly three months from now. These continuous postponements have raised many questions …
Boosting Arab Culture on YouTube
By Diana Baddar, Head of YouTube Partnerships, Middle East and North Africa In recent years, YouTube has gone through a significant transformation. A large portion of native ‘YouTubers’ are growing up on the platform and helping define its potential, making YouTube the place it is today – a hub of creativity that keeps the world …
Remembering Camille Lepage: The lady with no redlines
Exactly one year ago, I tried to take a break from my intense news production life style and daily stress. I headed to Southern Spain, with the intention of staying for a couple of weeks or maybe months, a break from big and overcrowded cities full of politicians and daily insanities. Only after a few …
Abu Trika: Bridging Egyptian polarisation or signalling a shift in attitudes?
By James M. Dorsey Few are able to bridge Egypt’s deeply polarising divide between supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood, following the 2013 military coup that toppled president Mohammed Morsi. Mohammed Abu Trika, Egypt’s most celebrated and storied football player, is proving to be either the exception that proves the rule or an indication …
Egypt’s anti-democratic trajectory
By Wael Eskandar What’s happening in Egypt now is beyond dangerous for those willing to think it through. At first glance, the overwhelming support for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi caused observers to envisage a stable outlook towards the country’s future. After all, Egyptians are willing to endure dire economic conditions because of their trust in …
Europe and those Arabs (5 of 5): The EU as a post-colonialist bank
Some of us might consider the acquittal of Mubarak, the failure of state-building in Libya, the civil war in Syria, the sectarian war in Yemen, or the international silence and approval of crushing protesters in Bahrain the death of the so-called Arab Spring. We might also say Lucky Tunisia, the only survivor of such a …
Notes from America: Why the West is fixated on Muslim women’s wardrobes
By Ahmed Tharwat Muslim women living in the West are attacked in the streets, supermarkets, buses, and football games, just for wearing the hijab. In France, Muslim students are denied education for wearing hijabs, last week a 15-year-old Muslim student was banned from school for wearing a long black skirt, “seen as openly religious for …
Improved water and sanitation essential for global development
By Dr. Bjørn Lomborg There are plenty of things, which those of us lucky enough to live in the industrialised world take for granted; running water and flush toilets are among the most basic of these. 2.5 billion – almost half of the developing world – lack even a basic latrine, and 1 billion have to …
Yemen: In the name of Restoring ‘Hope’
By Waleed R. Derhem It has been a month into the beginning of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, and yet the battle on the ground is not over. The coalition claims a win in achieving the objectives and goals by announcing a glorious end to “Decisive Storm” and the beginning of the second stage of …
Qatari promises of labour reform ring hollow amid revived corruption allegations
By James M. Dorsey A promise by Qatari Labour and Social Affairs minister Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al-Khulaifi to reform the Gulf state’s controversial ‘kafala’, or labour sponsorship system, by the end of this year is likely to cut little ice with human rights and trade union activists, who four years after Qatar won the right …
Hidden war on Mubarak’s state and Al-Sisi’s regime
By Hussien Abd Rabu How did it feel to listen to former president Hosni Mubarak when he was congratulating the Egyptian people on Sinai Independence Day, and talking about his sacrifices to liberate the occupied land and his evaluation of the current regime? And a while after that you see his son, Gamal Mubarak, taking …
Copts in Egypt: How a Dutch newspaper got it terribly wrong
By Johannes A. Makar Pope Tawadros II is currently touring the Netherlands on a five-day visit to the local Coptic community. But a leading Dutch newspaper questions whether he should have been granted access to the country. Last Friday, marking the second day of the pontiff’s visit to this cheese-blessed nation, Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsbladpublished …
AFC’s Salman re-elected amid renewed corruption and governance questions
By James M. Dorsey Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa has been elected president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for a second term and vice president of world football body FIFA amid unanswered questions about the AFC’s handling of corruption investigations and his apparent failure to enforce good governance in his own organisation. In an …