Egypt

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 […]

Egypt

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

Juan Cole

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Egypt

Egypt: Crowds at Presidential Palace Break through Barbed Wire, President offers Dialogue

Juan Cole

On Saturday morning, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood held a news conference in which its leader, Muhammad Badie, insisted that the so-called opposition in Egypt is nothing more than criminals and saboteurs and condemned the security forces for allowing the burning of Muslim Brotherhood HQ in Cairo. He complained that an attempt had been made to […]

Egypt

Egypt: Faction Fighting in the Streets Threatens Stability, leaves 5 dead, 450 wounded

Juan Cole

Egypt has descended into faction-fighting in the streets that left some 5 dead and 450 wounded on Wednesday, as President Muhammad Morsi prepared to make a major address to the nation on Thursday. Violence has broken out not just in Cairo itself but also in provincial cities such as Suez, Port Said, Ismailiya, Zaqaziq and […]

Egypt

Tracking down Mubarak’s Ill-Gotten Gains (Loveluck)

Juan Cole

Louisa Loveluck writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism In Egypt’s Tahrir Square, the vast fortune of Hosni Mubarak and his inner circle was also a focal point of resentment. Previous estimates of the Mubarak family wealth placed the figure at between $40bn and $70bn. A report by The National last week, looked at official […]

Egypt

Abdel Nasser Jokes about Outrageous Muslim Brotherhood Demand that all Women Veil

Juan Cole

Then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser tells anecdotes (early 1960s?) about his meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood and their demand that he make all Egyptian women wear headscarves in public. How much things have changed is apparent in the humorous way Abdel Nasser dealt with what he saw as a completely unrealistic request. Ironically, the […]

Egypt

Egypt President condemns Israeli Air Raids on Gaza

Juan Cole

Aljazeera Arabic is reporting on a speech by Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi on Wednesday evening Cairo time, in which the Muslim Brotherhood figure condemned Israeli attacks by fighter jet on the Gaza Strip. Morsi was careful to say that Revolutionary Egypt continues to respect all its treaties and international obligations, reassuring Washington and Tel Aviv […]

Afghanistan

Top Seven Errors President Obama has made on the Middle East

Juan Cole

Yesterday I explored the errors and fantasies in Gov. Mitt Romney’s WSJ op-ed on the Middle East. Here I will briefly go over the mistakes that the Obama administration has made in the region. Unlike the proposed blunders of Romney, I have to say, most of these are errors of omission or of an abundance […]

Afghanistan

Top Ten Likely Consequences of Muslim anti-US Embassy Riots

Juan Cole

1. Tourism in Egypt and Tunisia, the economies of which heavily depend on it, is likely to take a nosedive this fall. It is a shame, because Tunisia had been hoping for a near return to 2010 levels of 7 million visitors this year. And Egypt’s tourism was up 16% over the previous year, though […]