Egypt Revolution 2011
All topics-
Human rights under Sisi
Egypt's open-air prison
Egyptian authorities have arrested thousands in a crackdown on dissent, even its most benign forms. And some former prisoners are finding that they are not really free despite having been released. Ruth Michaelson reports on the case of a female Egyptian activist from Cairo
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Elias Khoury on the Arab Spring 2019
The re-birth of Tahrir Square
Ask what happened to the spirit of Tahrir Square and we find the reply in the Maghreb. Today Tahrir Square is in Algeria, in Sudan, and in many other places besides. Perhaps the secret of the Arab Spring lies not in its victories or its defeats, writes Elias Khoury, but in its ability to liberate people from fear
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Egyptian film-maker Youssef Chahine
The great visionary of Arab cinema
Obsessive, argumentative, yet well ahead his time artistically and in terms of the subject matter his films addressed: 11 years after his death director Youssef Chahine remains a lodestar for the emerging Arab independent film scene. Christopher Resch explains why
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Egyptʹs political future
Generalissimo Sisi
Proposed amendments to Egyptʹs constitution will enshrine the militaryʹs position above the state by giving it greater legal means to intervene against elected governments and prosecute political opponents. Egypt is set to become a military dictatorship in name as well as deed. By Maged Mandour
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Inauguration of the AUC Tahrir Cultural Center
Manifesting the unseen
New work by Huda Lufti and Sherin Guirguis explores the poetics of revolution and repression at a pair of exhibitions marking the inauguration of the Tahrir Cultural Center at the downtown campus of the American University in Cairo. By Mahmoud Saber and Jacob Wirtschafter
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Authoritarian rule in the Arab world
Nurturing the Arabellion phoenix
The restoration of authoritarianism after the turmoil of 2010/11 lured some analysts into drawing the over-hasty conclusion that the Arab Spring had been doomed to failure from the start, because the citizens of these countries lacked political maturity and a real desire for change. A miscalculation, argues Emad Alali in his essay
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Eight years after the Arabellion
The Egyptian opposition's seven deadly sins
On 25 January 2011, millions of Egyptians took to the streets demanding "bread, freedom, social justice". Eight years later, the democratic opposition is divided because it has been unable to offer an alternative to the military state, says political scientist Taqadum Al-Khatib
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Media and politics in the Arab world
The despotsʹ henchmen
The murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi highlights the difficulties facing media in post-revolutionary Arab states. The freedoms temporarily gained after 2011 have long since fallen victim to the authoritarian restoration. By Loay Mudhoon
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President Sisi and Al-Azhar
Wresting religious authority from the Grand Imam
An arcane dispute between Egyptʹs president and Al-Azhar over how much society is threatened by debating the authenticity of hadiths and their role in Islamic law is really about moral leadership in society. By Nathan J. Brown and Cassia Bardos
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The Arab Spring and the "Spring of Nations"
Failed revolutionaries?
What do Europeʹs "Spring of Nations" of 1848 and the Arab Spring have in common? Both revolutions it seems were doomed to failure, with those involved forced to endure a long and icy winter of restoration. And yet there is a glimmer of hope. An essay by the Egyptian historian Khaled Fahmy
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Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi
Hypnotic rail rhythms
Singer Dina El Wedidi was one of the most prominent Egyptian singers among the protestors in Tahrir Square. She has just released her latest album, "Manam / Slumber", an experimental venture featuring a 30-minute suite that captures the sounds of Egypt’s trains and railway stations. By Stefan Franzen
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Authoritarian reinstatement in the Arab world
Whatʹs left of the Arab Spring
Not much remains of the euphoric mood and the hopes that drove the Arab Spring. A return to pre-2011 conditions is however out of the question. Commentary by Loay Mudhoon