Egypt

The Egyptian electoral commission on Tuesday signed off on the constitutional referendum, declaring that the country’s guiding legal framework had received a little over 63 percent of the vote. (It only got 56% in the first of two rounds, when the leftist, liberal and centrist opposition thought they had some chance of blocking it, but […]

Egypt

Christmas 2012: The Flowering of Middle Eastern Christianity and the Challenges it Faces

Juan Cole

There are more Middle Eastern Christians than ever before, and they are poised between emergence as a new political force in a democratizing region and the dangers to them of fundamentalism and political repression. The arguments you see for Christian decline in the region are mostly wrong. If we count the Christians in the Arab […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Controversial Fundamentalist Constitution Meets Low Turnout

Juan Cole

Egyptians went to the polls again Saturday in the second round of the constitutional referendum. The provinces or governorates that voted in this round were disproportionately rural, and early returns suggested a big “yes” vote, perhaps as high as 70% or so. Rural areas are strongholds of the Muslim Brotherhood and other fundamentalist forces, though […]

Egypt

Fundamentalist Constitution Provokes Street Clashes in Alexandria, 77 Wounded

Juan Cole

As Egyptians in 17 governorates head to the polls on Saturday in the second round of the controversial referendum on the new constitution, tension still simmers in the country’s second-largest city, Alexandria, where street clashes left 77 wounded on Friday. The clashes again show the unwisdom of the way President Muhammad Morsi, who hails from […]

Egypt

Top Ten Threats to the Legitimacy of Egypt’s new Constitution

Juan Cole

Early returns from the Egyptian provinces that voted in a two-stage referendum on Saturday suggest that the draft constitution garnered some 56% of the vote. It was rejected in the capital, Cairo, and in the Delta province of Gharbiya, but won in the 8 other provinces where voting took place on Saturday, including Alexandria and […]

Egypt

Will Egyptian Left & Liberals Urge a “No” vote on Constitution or Boycott?

Juan Cole

The left, liberal and centrist parties grouped in the National Salvation Front have decided to campaign for a “no” vote on the constitution in the two-part referendum that begins on Saturday, rather than boycotting it, assuming certain conditions are met. The decision came in the wake of large dueling demonstrations on Tuesday by the left […]

Egypt

The Green-Khaki Alliance: Morsi Deploys the Military for Referendum

Juan Cole

Faced with the prospect of substantial public resistance to his scheduling of a referendum on a Muslim Brotherhood-tinged constitution on December 15, Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi has turned to the military. (The green in the title is a reference to political Islam, not the environment). Morsi has ordered that the Egyptian army guard government buildings […]

Egypt

Bye, Bye Alexandria: A 1-Meter Sea Rise is Certain

Juan Cole

COP18, the Climate Change Conference held in Doha, Qatar, is a dismal failure, with the United States and Russia being the chief villains. The failure of the world’s leaders to have their hair on fire about the extreme challenges of the climate change we are producing with our carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Morsi Backs down Slightly, but Opposition to Campaign against his Referendum

Juan Cole

Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi late on Saturday abruptly announced that his controversial November 22 constitutional decree had been abrogated. He no longer holds himself above the law or above judicial review. The announcement came after he met with some of his critics, including liberal Ayman Nur of the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, who had been jailed […]