Muslim Brotherhood
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Two Years after the Arab Revolution
Disillusionment in the Middle East
Syria is caught up in a civil war, Islamists are in power in Cairo and Tunis, Turkey is caught between fronts and the Mideast peace process is stalled. What to make of the region two years after the Arab Revolution? By Bettina Marx
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Interview with the Coptic activist Emad Gad
''Egypt is inexorably developing into a theocracy''
Emad Gad is a leading member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and vice-director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. In this interview with Ute Schaeffer and Loay Mudhoon, he criticises the Islamization course being steered by Mursi's administration and explains how Egypt's liberal parties could act as a counterweight to the Islamists
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Domestic Political Crisis in Libya
Stability on Trial
Challenging times ahead for the Libyan government: less than four weeks after his election, Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur has been removed from office by a vote of no-confidence. The security situation remains precarious, as a campaign to disarm the militias continues to make halting progress. More information from Hanspeter Mattes of the GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies
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Interview with Nader Hashemi
On the Compatibility of Islam and Democracy
In this interview with Lewis Gropp, Nader Hashemi, a leading scholar on Islam and secularism, says that the two are far from being incompatible – and that the West has to accept its share of responsibility for the revival of anti-democratic forces in the Islamic world
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The Egyptian President's Track Record Thus Far
Multiple Morsi
One hundred days after taking office, Egypt's new President is still a mystery. Sometimes he presents himself as a civilian president, then on other occasions as an uncompromising Islamist. Soon he will have to put his cards on the table. Markus Symank reports from Cairo
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Boualem Sansal on Arab-Islamic Identity
The Islamists Will Govern Undemocratically
The Arab revolutionary states are experiencing a dangerous association between Islamism and nationalism, fears Boualem Sansal, who is calling for the formation of a Mediterranean union
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Protests in Jordan
A Small Kingdom with Big Problems
While the eyes of the world are fixed on the escalating violence in Syria, across the border in Jordan, the country's ongoing economic problems threaten to trigger a full-blown political crisis. Dissatisfaction among the population is growing, and criticism of the king is getting louder. Nader Alsarras reports
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Cairo's Shanty District of Ramlet Bulak
Slumdogs vs. Billionaire
Egypt's richest man, Naguib Sawiris, has cast his eye upon the Cairo slum district of Ramlet Bulak. The police want to vacate the area and are terrorizing its inhabitants. Yet, residents refuse to give up the fight. A report by Markus Symank
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Changes in Egypt's Military Leadership
Mursi Reaches Agreement with the Generals
The changes in the Egyptian military leadership are not the result of a "civilian putsch", says Stephan Roll of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). They are rather the result of a long-planned changeover from one generation to the next, in which the generals will continue to hold a veto in any future political system
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The Supreme Military Council in Egypt Loses Its Power
The Old Guard Steps Down
The political disempowerment of the supreme military leadership in Egypt must be the most important event since the fall of the former president, Hosni Mubarak. For the first time in the recent history of the country, a civilian president has issued a ruling which publicly confronts the military. By Karim El-Gawhary
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Electoral Reform in Jordan
Reading the Political Tea Leaves
The behaviour of Jordan's Royal Court in the days following the official announcement of the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi in Egypt's presidential election tells an intriguing story. At first, Jordan's King Abdullah II hesitated to sign a long-sought-after election law. This was followed by approval of the law, a request for its revision and a surprise official meeting with the leader of Hamas. Daoud Kuttab explains what is going on
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Egypt's Democratic Perspectives
A Shroud for the Revolution?
Egypt's revolutionaries have scotched the military agenda by throwing their weight behind Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi, says renowned Egyptian author Mansoura Ez-Eldin. But if they are to again seize the political initiative, they must now regroup and revise their strategy to date.