MER Article Foreign Investment in Egypt According to data gathered by the UN Center on Transnational Corporations, the overwhelming majority of foreign investment in Egypt has been from the United States, with the exception of the banking sector. There has been very little European investment, and virtually no Japanese presence. The UN da James Paul • 2 min read
MER Article Egypt's Military Egypt’s armed forces number well over 300,000 men, the largest in the Arab world or in Africa. Some two thirds are in the army, and most of the rest in the air force. Since 1952, the top political leadership has been drawn from the armed forces. Since 1968, there has been a “demilitarization” of the Joe Stork • 4 min read
MER Article Egypt's Debt Problem Egypt’s external debt—the sums owed to other governments, private multinational banks and multilateral agencies like the World Bank—increased on an average of 28 percent per year under Anwar al-Sadat, compared to 13 percent over the previous ten years. Sadat’s decade also witnessed important shifts Joe Stork • 4 min read
MER Article Sadat's Egypt: A Balance Sheet We now know that the execution-style death of Anwar al-Sadat on the anniversary of the October war crossing was the prelude to neither a coup d’etat nor a popular uprising. Government institutions continued to function within the established legal framework and internal stability reigned. The trial Marie-Christine Aulas • 23 min read
MER Article In the Footsteps of Sadat Israel invaded Lebanon on June 6, 1982, the fifteenth anniversary of the June war of 1967. Then, Egypt was the main Arab combatant state in a war that redrew the geopolitical map of the Middle East. Today, Israel is again redrawing the map, with Palestinian and Lebanese blood. This time Egypt has fi Joe Stork, Judith Tucker • 11 min read
MER Article "The Masses Speak the Language of Religion to Express Themselves Politically" Mohamed Sid Ahmed is an Egyptian journalist and left opposition leader. He is a member of the secretariat of Tagammu‘, the National Progressive Unionist Party, and is a representative of the party’s Marxist component. He was an editorial writer with al-Akhbar from 1965 to 1968 and chief political an Mohamed Sid-Ahmed • 17 min read
MER Article Massive Arrests Precede Sadat's Assassination On September 3 and 4, 1981, just four weeks before he was assassinated, President Anwar al-Sadat launched a crackdown that overnight swept nearly 1,600 Egyptians into prisons. Hundreds more were detained under house arrest, or stripped of official positions in professional associations. Sadat attrib Joe Stork • 5 min read
MER Article Hill, Mahkama! Enid Hill, Mahkama! Studies in the Egyptian Legal System (London: Ithaca Press, 1980). Enid Hill has produced an unusual and important contribution to understanding the political economy of modern Egypt. Her book, clear and easy to follow, adopts an anthropological approach to the study of the Egyp Peter Gran • 1 min read
MER Article "I Have Not Seen a Good Day in My Life" Interview with Hilmi Zaki: Are you married? Yes, and my wife is an orphan. I chose an orphan woman so that she struggles with me the way I struggled when I was young. Her father was a lawyer -- he died when she was young. Where do you live? (Author not identified) • 10 min read
MER Article "I Am Definitely a Product of the Revolution" Interview with Ibrahim Araq: We would like to begin by asking you the usual questions about your marital status, your salary, your age and so forth. I am 31, married, but with no children. I work as an accountant at the National Library in Cairo (Dar al-Kutub). My net monthly pay is 29.77 pounds. (Author not identified) • 4 min read
MER Article Formation of the Egyptian Working Class The roots of the Egyptian working class reach back into nineteenth century when Muhammed ‘Ali (1805-1849), founder of the dynasty which ruled Egypt until 1952, initiated his abortive industrialization program. Beginning in 1819 his regime built European style factories in three major sectors: Milita Joel Beinin • 31 min read
MER Article Chronology: US-Egyptian Military Relationship 1974 February 28 Kissinger and Sadat, in Cairo, announce US-Egyptian diplomatic relations to resume, following June 1967 rupture. March 18 State Department announces US Navy will help clear mines from Suez Canal. April 18 Sadat announces Egypt ending 18 years of reliance on Soviet arms. April 19 Danny Reachard, Joe Stork • 9 min read
