Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Counter-revolutions aren’t anything new
By Ana Maria Luca, Now. Totalitarian military regimes tend to react the same way when faced with a rebellion: they distract the population’s attention toward an even scarier enemy so that they can claim to be saviours rather than oppressors. And so whenever there is a revolution, there’s usually a counter-revolution, too. It has been …
The long winding road to Yemen
As the debates rage in Egypt on whether presidential elections should be held before parliamentary elections, the country seems headed to an all too familiar scenario. In February 2012, elections were held in Yemen with acting president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi as the only candidate on the ballot. While many Egyptian activists ridiculed this move, …
“Down with your state if our freedom is absent”
By Sara Khorshid At least for a while it will be difficult for many Egyptian youths to forget the scene of 19-year-old engineering student Mohamed Reda taking his last breath. Reda was killed inside Cairo University’s campus as he got hit in the neck by birdshot while the police was dispersing a protest by students. …
Mandela’s struggles for peace and justice in Africa
By Lansana Gberie On 27 November 1995, a calm voice issued this jarring statement on the BBC: “Abacha is sitting on a volcano. And I am going to explode it underneath him.” It belonged to Nelson Mandela. He was 77, and had already been president of South Africa for a year. Mandela was referring to …
World Cup emerges as agent of change in Qatar
By James M Dorsey Qatar is taking a beating in the court of public opinion with almost daily headlines raising questions about the way the Gulf state does business. Yet, its hosting of the 2022 World Cup is emerging six months into the reign of Qatar’s new emir as an agent of change. Harsh working …
Will Al-Sisi run for president?
First we will discuss the consequences of General Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi running for president. What first comes to mind is that Al-Sisi will win, of course, which would confirm the doubt that 30 June was a military coup. This would seriously hurt Egypt’s connections with the international political scene. On the other hand, this win …
The Bachmann dilemma
When I got into the newsroom Tuesday morning, a heated discussion between my colleagues was ongoing about whether or not to publish Michele Bachmann’s piece (which was sent to us by her office). Most of the young democracy-passionate reporters were vehemently against publishing her, very few were for it, and our Opinion editor was quite …
Elections experts worry that Egypt’s new elections will make the same mistake as last time
Defective election method probably elected wrong candidate, Mohamed Morsi
Michele Bachmann writes: Muslim Brotherhood: A history of terror
By Michele Bachmann If the decision of the interim government of Egypt is to consider the organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, then the United States should follow. From the time of Hassan al-Banna and the “secret apparatus” staging terror attacks across Egypt and the assassinations of Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha and …
2013 Winner and Losers
With the year winding down, it’s time to count this year’s winners and losers. Winners: 1) The Nour Party: Hands down 2013’s biggest winner is the Salafi Nour Party. It played its hand perfectly after 30 June, recognising its symbolic importance to the 3 July coalition on both national and international levels. The party managed …
How Egyptians are trapped in polarity & prejudice
By Mohammed Nosseir “I accuse you of high treason!” is a phrase frequently used by Egyptians in the course of political discourse. Most of the people who use the phrase don’t really think of its actual meaning, but it is a good tool for polarisation and expressing prejudice. Apparently, Egyptian society prefers accusations and criticism …
Red herrings
A few weeks ago, in his regular New York Times column, Thomas Friedman applauded the “radical evolutions” taking place across the Arab Gulf, dubbing them “The Other Arab Awakening“. Friedman makes the sweeping claim that, “in the wake of the Arab Spring, [Gulf leaders] are deeply concerned with their legitimacy, which they are discovering can …
Egypt’s secret Swiss bank
By Farah Halime Nestled in the heart of downtown Cairo is the opulent headquarters of Arab International Bank, a secretive bank that has allowed kleptocrats to funnel money out of the country for decades with barely any regulatory oversight. The bank, established in 1974 by a treaty signed by Egypt, Libya, Qatar, Oman and the UAE, is exempt …
African philanthropists push for prosperity
By Kingsley Ighobor Last July, US President Barack Obama set the spark for his Power Africa programme that will help sub-Saharan African countries build power production and transmission projects and double their access to electricity. President Obama announced in Cape Town, South Africa, his plan to mobilise $16bn for investments that will generate 10,000 megawatts …
Does the constitution matter?
By Dr Mohamed Fouad As the 50-member committee completed their work on the new constitution for Egypt – the second in less than two years, the document was met with mixed reviews. Amr Moussa, the chairman of the committee, asserted earlier this week that this is a constitution that responds to the requirements of the …
Netanyahu’s true colours
By Dr. Cesar Chelala As 91 world leaders gathered in Soweto to pay homage to Nelson Mandela there was one notable absence: Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu cited the high cost of his presence in South Africa to explain his absence. It is possible that both internal politics and what he perceives as past antagonism from Mandela are better reasons to …
Gaza’s women have karate moves
By Omar Al-Ghraieb Women of different ages, sizes, social classes and backgrounds can be found at Gaza’s Karate Sports Club dressed in the classic white karate uniforms (known as Karategi in Japanese). They stand tall and barefoot. Some wear headscarves, some don’t. They all have different colored belts around the waists, marking their progress. Emad …
An unregulated security threat
By Andrew Tabler, Now. As more and more Syrians flee to neighboring Lebanon, the situation there is a growing national security concern not only for Lebanon, but the entire region. While Hezbollah and Iran are supporting the Assad regime in Syria, their increased vulnerability in Lebanon should give them pause, as the recent bombing of …
Eritrea’s botched kick-off – Football players defect
By Jonathan Moremi Once more it is not going well for the oppressive regime of Eritrean’s President Isaias Afewerki. Desperately trying to find some honour abroad, at least in the field of sports, something keeps going awfully wrong. Sunday evening nine members of the Eritrean national football team, currently in Kenya for the 2013 CECAFA …
Will the Muslim Brotherhood return to the political scene?
I do not want to spread panic amongst people especially those who are enemies of the Brotherhood, but I am beginning to think that there is a possibility that the Brotherhood will return to the forefront of the political scene. The main reason for the resurgence of the Brotherhood is the aggressive methods employed by …
The Egyptian lobbies
Since the military ouster of Mohammed Morsi, different Egyptian groups have lobbied the international community more than ever since the revolution began in 2011. The diversity of the lobby is more than probably ever before – and the intensity of those efforts is perhaps unmatched as well. The irony is – none of those lobbying …
Egypt’s others
“Old Regime Remnants”, “The traditional forces”, “The ruling elite”, “Mubarak supporters” and “Army Boot-lickers” are all names used to describe what some people believe to be Egypt’s strongest political force, the felool. They are the fourth player in post-revolution’s Egypt political field after the Islamists, liberals and revolutionaries; yet, there is very little written about …
Op-ed review: The new constitution
The upcoming referendum on the new constitution has been on the minds of many columnists. Predictably, many columns are concerned with dissecting the new constitution and exploring its pros and cons. The constitution and its political and geographic disasters Mohamed Othman Al-Khesht Al Watan Newspaper Columnist Al-Khesht explores how the political blunders following after 25 …
Message on international anti-corruption day
By Ban Ki-Moon Corruption suppresses economic growth by driving up costs, and undermines the sustainable management of the environment and natural resources. It breaches fundamental human rights, exacerbates poverty and increases inequality by diverting funds from health care, education and other essential services. The malignant effects of corruption are felt by billions of people everywhere. …
Why one foreign investor left Egypt
By Farah Halime One of the key markers of a thriving economy is whether investors are committed. For Egypt, attracting investors has remained a point of contention in the last three years – are they or are they not putting money in Egypt? Marshall Stocker, an American venture capitalist, was among a band of businessmen drawn …
America’s unlearned lessons
By Michael Young, NOW. Afghanistan all over again After the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, you would often hear from Americans that Washington had botched the aftermath of the civil war in Afghanistan. Instead of helping stabilise the country after having armed the Afghanis in their struggle against the Russian occupation, …
MENA youth refuse to step down despite setbacks
By Aisha Habli Beirut – The glow of the Arab Spring wore off in the media a while ago. Violence, internal division and widespread frustration have replaced the hopeful scenes of youth standing up to demand change. But have youth really stepped back from the frontlines of such change? I followed up with my peers, …
Suspended Logic
By Dr Mohamed Fouad Last week, we spoke about the gripping polarisation turned mass mania. We have seen how it became easier and less painful to choose sides rather than be pragmatic about any situation. There is no doubt that we have been living three years where logic has been put on hold and all …
Nelson Mandela: Death of a Giant
By Dr. Cesar Chelala Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s death signals not only the passing away of a gifted politician. It is the death of one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. It is not only the death of a man; it is the physical –although not the spiritual- death of a person whose …
As nuclear debate intensifies, multinational repositories can address world’s growing waste stockpile
By Behnam Taebi Across much of the world, nuclear power continues to spawn controversy. For instance, concern over the Fukushima site continues, and a risky, unprecedented operation has just begun to remove thousands of fuel rods. Meanwhile, despite the landmark international deal agreed on Sunday that saw parts of Iran’s nuclear programme frozen for six months, some critics wonder …