Current Analysis Strikes in Egypt Spread from Center of Gravity The longest and strongest wave of worker protest since the end of World War II is rolling through Egypt. In March, the liberal daily al-Masri al-Yawm estimated that no fewer than 222 sit-in strikes, work stoppages, hunger strikes and demonstrations had occurred during 2006. In the first five months Joel Beinin, Hossam El-Hamalawy • 12 min read
Current Analysis Egyptian Textile Workers Confront the New Economic Order For the last ten years Muhammad ‘Attar, 36, has worked in the finishing department at the gigantic Misr Spinning and Weaving Company complex at Mahalla al-Kubra in the middle of the Nile Delta. He takes home a basic wage of about $30. With profit sharing and incentives, his net pay is about $75 a mo Joel Beinin, Hossam El-Hamalawy • 17 min read
Current Analysis Hear Out Muslim Brotherhood On a quiet, one-way street in Cairo’s middle-class Manial district, two bored security guards sit idly sipping tea. The building behind them houses a small apartment that serves as the main offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest Islamist group in the Middle East. In Egypt, the Brotherhood is Joshua Stacher, Samer Shehata • 3 min read
MER Article Comrades and Brothers Emad Mubarak is a busy man. Director of the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, and a lawyer with the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, the leftist Mubarak cannot hold a meeting without being interrupted by the ring of his cell phone. The calls these days come from student members of the Mus Hossam El-Hamalawy • 12 min read
Special Publications The Brotherhood Goes to Parliament Sitting on a comfortable fake leather couch in the lobby of Cairo’s four-star Ma‘adi Hotel on a spring evening, we watch tourists mill around. Asian, European and Sudanese businessmen and holidaymakers casually eat a buffet dinner or browse in the souvenir shop selling knockoff pharaonic trinkets. The hotel Alyssa Bivins • 18 min read
Current Analysis The Emergence of a “Coptic Question” in Egypt In the early morning of April 14, 2006, Mahmoud Salah al-Din Abd al-Raziq, a Muslim, entered the church of Mar Girgis (Saint George) in Alexandria’s al-Hadra district and stabbed three parishioners who had gathered for a service. Abd al-Raziq then proceeded to attack worshippers at two other churche (Author not identified) • 14 min read
MER Article Damanhour by Hook and by Crook On a November day in the sleepy Egyptian Delta town of Damanhour, around 1,000 townsfolk gathered in the central square to listen to Mustafa al-Fiqqi of the ruling National Democratic Party explain why they should vote for him as their parliamentary representative in two days’ time. Al-Fiqqi is a fo Joshua Stacher • 6 min read
MER Article Egypt's Paradoxical Elections For undemocratic regimes in a democratic age, elections are an extremely valuable tool. They create opportunities for limited popular participation, disarm domestic and international critics, and enhance political monitoring and control by revealing the relative political strength of government and Mona El-Ghobashy • 18 min read
Current Analysis Controlled Reform in Egypt Drawn out over five weeks in November and December 2005, Egypt’s parliamentary elections gripped a country normally jaded about formal politics—and produced some surprising results. While the ruling National Democratic Party retained a large majority of seats in the legislature when the votes were counted, more than half Issandr El Amrani • 16 min read
Current Analysis Egypt’s Election All About Image, Almost The skies of Cairo are cluttered with strips of cloth daubed in red, blue and green. Hanging in crowded squares and stretching across streets before traffic lights, almost all of the banners proclaim the enthusiastic support of “So-and-So and his family” or “such-and-such shop or hospital” for Husni Mariz Tadros • 10 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Fall 2005) Mere months ago, devotees of President George W. Bush's Iraq adventure were positively giddy. Not only were they convinced that Iraq was on the fast track to peace, prosperity and perpetual friendliness with Washington, they believed that countries across the Greater Middle East were following close behind. Neo-conservative The Editors • 6 min read
MER Article Rhetorical Acrobatics and Reputations The inaugural report of Egypt's state-sponsored National Council for Human Rights raised eyebrows when it was released in April 2005. The 358-page document acknowledged claims of torture in the country's police stations and called for an end to the emergency laws that have effectively suspended the Joshua Stacher • 17 min read
