Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
On selfie-shness
While seeing smiling photos is fun it may be time to focus on something else than ourselves
In a league of his own: Sisi is not the heir to Nasser’s legacy
By Rasheed Hammouda and Mohamed Ibrahim This article is the first of a three part series. The aim of this series is to dispel the increasingly widespread belief held by both supporters and detractors of Sisi that the circumstances he faces and the actions he takes are similar to those of his predecessors, specifically Gamal …
The Arab World’s options
By Marwan Muasher When the Arab awakening began in 2011, its primary goal should have been to advance pluralism and democracy – causes that were neglected in the Arab world’s first, anti-colonial awakening in the 20th century. But, after three years of struggle, the process has only just begun. Will the second Arab awakening finally …
After Morsi, injustice persists for Egypt’s Copts
By Johannes Amin Makar Across the street from my cousin’s apartment in Rod al-Farag, an area in Cairo’s populated Shubra district, hangs a poster that depicts the former Coptic Pope Shenouda III. A note saying “many thanks to all Muslims who supported us in times of grief” marks the bottom of the photo. The thank …
My Friend, Bassem Sabry: One of the good people
“Why is it that all the good people die in this country?” (Bassem Sabry, 24 March 2013) I saw a couple of friends recently – both of them had been reasons I loved the “City Victorious”, but who had lately moved away from Cairo. We hadn’t met up together in a very long time, …
Dahab is suffering
By Rebecca Lister Dahab means gold in Arabic, but it seems that the resort should now be called lead. This once vibrant resort, formerly brimming with tourists and expats, is slowly dying and poverty is beckoning. Shops and restaurants are empty, dive centres closing daily, many hotels are standing empty – a ghost town in …
The chant for freedom
By Sara Khorshid By now it has become cliché for observers in Egypt and worldwide to say that the Egyptian revolution is dead. Everyone knows it is. Everyone knows that three years after the 25 January uprising, the military and the police have consolidated their decades-long power, corruption continues to dominate the state and all …
Al-Jazeera trial and Ukraine abduction set dark tone for World Press Freedom day
By James Rodgers The outrage is palpable across the centuries. In the first issue of his provocative newspaper The North Briton, John Wilkes championed the “liberty of the press”. It was “the terror of all bad ministers; for their dark and dangerous designs, or their weakness, inability, and duplicity, have thus been detected.” Wilkes was …
The energy rebound dilemma and the age of consumerism
By Eng. Hisham Farouk Mostafa Despite great efforts to increase energy efficiency, the reflection on energy consumption has not been as expected. Improved efficiency rebounded into greater consumption through the manufacturing of higher quality products, which led to an increased rate of energy consumption to achieve higher performances. In the automotive industry, there was hard work …
Egypt’s media: Fact, fiction, and farce
By Mohamed Selim Khalil The world celebrated “Press Freedom Day” 3 May. Yet, are the Egyptian journalists, reporters and media personnel joining their peers worldwide in celebrating the day? I highly doubt it. Many Egyptians, including journalists, who have endured perpetual hardship for the past three years ranging from lack of security to daily power cuts, …
Putin’s Real Enemy
By Dr. César Chelala As fear increases in the west about Vladimir Putin’s imperial ambitions, the Russian president has to confront at home his most powerful enemy: vodka. Russians’ love for vodka has a long history in the country. Legend holds that vodka arrived in Moscow in the 14th century, brought by Genovese merchants to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich. …
My liberal times in Oum al Dounia- Part 2
By Ronald Meinardus After nearly eight years at the helm of the Cairo Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF), Germany’s liberal think tank, Dr. Ronald Meinardus, who has on and off contributed also to the editorial page of this newspaper, is leaving Egypt shortly. What follows is the second installment of a …
A world free of wartime rape is within our reach
By Zainab Hawa Bangura Conflict-related sexual violence is a war crime mired in myths and shrouded in secrecy and stigma. Perhaps the greatest misperception is that it is an atrocity of a bygone era, and that in today’s age of high tech warfare, rape is no longer used as a weapon of mass destruction. Nothing …
Accountability in South Sudan – the African Union steps up
By Adama Dieng Images of Charles Taylor being arrested and indicted in 2006 for his crimes in Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war were splashed over the front pages of global news sites. When he was convicted in 2012, the spectacle was widely broadcast around the world. Elsewhere, the wheels of justice at the International Criminal …
Editor’s letter: Europe and those Arabs (1): Is the EU having an affair with The Muslim Brotherhood?
A few weeks ago I called an old friend to say goodbye before heading to Brussels after winning an EU award for my work in the past couple of years. I briefly explained what I would be doing in the capital of Europe and the fact that I would be having a series of meetings …
Egypt, Turkey and Iran: Exchanging roles in a tumultuous Middle East
By Fadi Elhusseini After less than a year of exceptional Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement, the events of 30 June 2013 ruptured this relationship. Similarly, when Egyptian and Iranian statesmen began to decrease tensions and a thaw in relations resulted, events returned things to square one. As these scenes, by and large, have been repeating themselves over and …
Sabahy’s challenge
Egypt’s leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy has become the second candidate after ex-army chief Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to formally join Egypt’s presidential race. The Sisi/Sabahy presidential race evokes memories of the farcical Mubarak/Ayman Nour election in 2005. Nevertheless, some perceive Sabahy’s challenge as a brave one. However, regardless of the intentions of the military-backed interim authority and how it …
My liberal times in Oum al Dounia – (Part One)
By Dr Ronald Meinardus After nearly eight years at the helm of the Cairo Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF), Germany’s liberal think tank, Dr Ronald Meinardus, who has, on and off, also contributed to the editorial page of this newspaper, is leaving Egypt shortly. The following is the first of three …
Who is responsible for the disbanding of the national partnership?
I have no problem with replacing the 30 June alliance term with the national partnership. Recently, I have used the term 30 June alliance to refer to the alliance formed between the old state supporters, the democratic entities and the army. This alliance went through many stages and attacks leading me to believe that it …
Too hoarse race
By Philip Whitfield Too cute? You try. Two’s company, three’s a crowd (corny); Spin doctors (better); Whispering campaign (true); Rope a dope (scurrilous). What’s being spoon-fed? Battle lines drawn, littered through copy with adjectival innuendo: Al-Sisi’s campaign headquarters in the “upper class” Al-Tagammu (New Cairo) district…(snooty?). Worse: Sabahy, youngest of a peasant farmer’s 12 children …
Erdogan chooses football for first-post election strike against Islamist opponents
By James M. Dorsey Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan, fresh from a resounding victory in municipal elections, has chosen the football pitch to make good on his promise to “enter the lair” of his Islamist rival, self-exiled preacher Fethullalh Gulen, and ensure that what he calls an “alliance of evil” is brought to account for …
War breaks out
By Philip Whitfield Before conniptions consume, inhale the acronyms. FAG: (For/Against Government), IMP: the British Imperial Tobacco Group the world’s fourth-largest ciggie peddler flogging 320bn cigarettes a year (Davidoff in Egypt) after PMI: Philip Morris International (Marlboros / Merit), BAT British American Tobacco (Rothmans/Dunhill) and arriving on the 1 July JT Japan Tobacco (Winston/Salem). And …
Rising from the ashes
Twenty years after genocide, Rwanda makes huge development strides
The Brotherhood and Britain: The ‘terrorists or us’ theory
The British decision to launch an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood and its alleged links with radical militancy has sparked widespread controversy. Many people are justifiably surprised by the sudden decision and the possibility that it is politically motivated by Saudi pressure. However, more alarming is the comment made by the Brotherhood’s most senior leader in the …
Bubble wrapped flats
Should investors in the east care about a potential housing bubble in the west?
Revolution-proofing
As demonstrated on Thursday, when some protesters held a rally downtown demonstrating against the Protest Law and demanding the release of prominent activists, we are looking at a country which is becoming starkly different from what it was in 2011. Of course, while I am not here to bury the 25 January Revolution nor to …
Without political support? (Part two)
In the previous article, I highlighted the importance of belonging to a political party or movement when it comes to presidential candidates. The presidential candidate that emerges from a party has a certain framework within which he works along with thousands of other members and volunteers. However, a presidential candidate who does not belong to …
Athletes and artists show Gaza still occupied
Recent cases involving athletes and musicians show how much Gaza is still under Israeli occupation By Hussein Ibish, Now I recently participated in a debate in New York City where two noted American pro-Israel advocates, Rabbi Shmuely Boteach and Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens, both kept insisting that there is no Israeli occupation in Gaza. Tell …
The case for Donald Rumsfeld’s prosecution
By Dr Cesar Chelala I have just finished watching the film “The Unknown Known” by Errol Morris, which is a long interview with Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defence during the Iraq war, and cannot stop thinking about Rumsfeld’s role in the use of torture, for which he was widely condemned. In 2009, Manfred Nowak, …
The Rise of the Minnows
Egyptian football has been deeply affected by the political and social events that stormed the country since the 25 January 2011 Revolution, especially by the Port Said massacre, which occurred on 1 February 2012, where 72 Al-Ahly supporters were killed in the Port Said stadium by Al-Masry fanatics. However, Egyptian football is trying to recover, …