Mubarak's Egypt Research Articles

Egypt: The Muslim Brothers in Society: Everyday Politics, Social Action, and Islamism in Mubarak's Egypt, by Marie Vannetzel. Translated by David Tresilian (book review)

The Muslim Brothers in Society: Everyday Politics, Social Action, and Islamism in Mubarak's Egypt, by Marie Vannetzel. Translated by David Tresilian. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2020. 484 pages. $49.95.

The Muslim Brothers in Society: Everyday Politics, Social Action, and Islamism in Mubarak's Egypt. Marie Vannetzel (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2021). Pp. 328. $49.95 cloth. ISBN: 9789774169625

The Muslim Brothers in Society: Everyday Politics, Social Action, and Islamism in Mubarak's Egypt. Marie Vannetzel (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2021). Pp. 328. $49.95 cloth. ISBN: 9789774169625 - Volume 54 Issue 1

Explaining Electoral Violence in Autocracies: Evidence from Mubarak's Egypt

Explaining Electoral Violence in Autocracies: Evidence from Mubarak's Egypt

Parliamentary Opposition Under Hybrid Regimes: Evidence from Egypt

Why do opposition political parties choose to run for parliament in semiauthoritarian systems? Existing literature emphasizes the benefits that these parties derive from campaigning and running for elections, while paying little attention to the politics that occurs within legislative institutions under these regimes. Supplementing election‐centric theories, we argue that opposition actors in semiauthoritarian systems also benefit directly from serving in weak parliaments and that this helps explain their participation in biased elections. We demonstrate this by examining the Muslim Brotherhood's legislative performance in Mubarak's Egypt, highlighting the mechanisms through which it used its minority presence in parliament to its advantage.

An unwilling client: how Hosni Mubarak's Egypt defied the Bush administration's ‘freedom agenda’

When the George W Bush administration announced the ‘freedom agenda’ in the Middle East, officials claimed it marked a major break in United States (US) foreign policy. In 2005, the administration intensified efforts pressuring Egypt, a client state, to democratize. However, the US continued pursuing security cooperation with and providing military aid to Egypt. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak repelled US reform efforts by exploiting the normative inconsistency between democratization and security in the war on terror. This paper reviews Mubarak's ‘balking’ strategy (Stephen Walt, Taming American power, New York: WW Norton, 2005), including feigning compliance through nominal legal changes and counter-arguments to buy time until the inconsistencies in US policy came to a head. By 2006, the US had abandoned the freedom agenda and the Egyptian regime had embarked on a repression campaign. As I argue, the implications of the contradictions in US policy towards Egypt demonstrate that weaker client states may enjoy increased agency vis-à-vis a weakly committed patron hegemon.

Review of Lisa Blaydes, Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt

Review of Lisa Blaydes, Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt

Mubarak's Egypt — Nexus of Criminality

Employing a Marxist framework, this article examines how neo-liberal agendas for development pursued by successive regimes in Egypt have been associated with violence, fraud and corruption. Encouraged by international financial institutions and Western governments, the Egyptian state became a means of channelling public resources into private hands, using complex relations of privilege among officials and oligarchs. The article examines a growing conviction among Egypt's people that the presidency and the ruling party represented a criminal enterprise. Addressing notions of “crony capitalism”, and the idea that the revolution of 2011 punished an aberrant political leader, it argues that bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been party to consolidation of corrupt networks and development of an authoritarian state acting with impunity vis-à-vis the mass of Egypt's people. The article raises pressing questions about global responsibilities for state crime manifested at the local level.

Book Review: Other Areas: Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt

Book Review: Other Areas: Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt - By Lisa Blaydes

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt - By Lisa Blaydes

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt – By Lisa Blaydes

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt – By Lisa Blaydes

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt. By Lisa Blaydes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 288p. $81.45.

Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak's Egypt. By Lisa Blaydes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 288p. $81.45.

When Cheap is Costly: Rent Decline, Regime Survival and State Reform in Mubarak's Egypt (1990–2009)

It has been held that external rents significantly affect the formation of state institutional capacities as constant flows of rents tend to weaken the capacity to regulate, monitor and restructure the economy. This gives rise to the formulation of a question in reverse: would a steady and consistent decline in rents instigate state capacity building? This study argues that the impact of rent decline on capacity building is politically mediated by the institutional features of the ruling regime which determine the extent to which dwindling rents adversely affect the incumbents' chances of political survival. In Mubarak's Egypt, the ruling incumbents could survive with less rent by resorting to more repression and curtailing political participation and could thus evade the cost of state reform. In that setting, cheap regime survival proved to be quite costly for the overall economy.

Building Coptic Civil Society: Christian Groups and the State in Mubarak's Egypt

Mubarak's Egypt is a relatively liberal regime which nonetheless retains relatively tight controls on civil society activity so as to pre-empt political activism, particularly that arising from Islamist or secular rivals to the regime. In spite of the constraints of Egyptian politics and their subordinate status as dhimmis under Islam, Copts have managed to create a wide edifice of civil society in Mubarak's Egypt. The explanations for this reside the internal strength and vibrancy of Coptic institutions themselves and in the non-threatening and moderating influence displayed by Coptic civil society.

Islam and Democracy in the Middle East

Contents: PART I: Democratization in the Arab World Mohamed Talbi, A Record of Failure Emmanuel Sivan, Illusions of Change Laith Kubba, The Awakening of Civil Society Daniel Brumberg, The Trap of Liberalized Autocracy Jason Brownlee, The Decline of Pluralism in Mubarak's Egypt William Quandt, Algeria's Uneasy Peace Abdeslam Maghraoui, Depoliticization in Morocco Jean-Francois Seznec, Stirrings in Saudi Arabia Michael Herb, Emirs and Parliaments in the Gulf Jillian Schwedler, Yemen's Aborted Opening Russell Lucas, Deliberalization in JordanPART II: Iran and Turkey Shaul Bakhash, Iran's Remarkable Election Haleh Esfandiari, Is Iran Democratizing? Observations on Election Day Ladan Boroumand, Is Iran Democratizing? Reform at an Impasse Daniel Brumberg, Is Iran Democratizing? A Comparativist's Perspective Ramin Jahanbegloo, The Deadlock in Iran: Pressures from Below Mehrangiz Kar, The Deadlock in Iran: Constitutional Constraints Soli Ozel, Turkey at the Polls: A Historic Opportunity Ziya Onis & Fuat Keyman, Turkey at the Polls: A New Path EmergesPART III: Islam and Democracy Abdou Filali-Ansary, Muslims and Democracy Bernard Lewis, A Historical Overview Robin Wright, Two Visions of Reformation Abdou Filali-Ansary, The Challenge of Secularization Abdou Filali-Ansary, The Sources of Enlightened Muslim Thought Abdelwahab El-Affendi, The Elusive Reformation Radwan Masmoudi, The Silenced Majority Laith Kubba, Faith and Modernity Daniel Brumberg, Islamists and the Politics of Consensus Vickie Langohr, An Exit from Arab Autocracy Ladan & Roya Boroumand, Terror, Islam and Democracy

Mubarak's Egypt: fragmentation of the political order

The starting point for the investigation outlined in this text is the relationship between political authority and economic change in Egypt and will be the presidency and the highest level of the political elite. The bulk of the field research on which this book is based was conducted in Egypt in 1986.

L'Egypte du président Moubarak

Mubarak's Egypt, by Gudrun Kràmer After a period of isolation resulting from her peace treaty with Israël, Egypt seems to be reasserting herself once more in the Arab world, especially since the restitution of the Sinai. Her military and political roles have gained importance in the eyes of pro-Western Arab countries and the position of her adversaries ― those who refuse compro mise and seek confrontation ― has weakened as a result of changes in relative strength brought about by the Irak-Iran war and by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. After death, both Egypt and the other Arab countries expected to see change of internal and external policy. It was thought that Hosny Mubarak would not follow Sadat's line towards liberal capitalism and strict démocratisation of political structures coupled with rapprochement towards the United States and return to normal relations with Israel. There was much contradictory speculation about what line would be. He has, in fact, imposed « new style » and though this does not question the basic principles of policy, it does lean towards a more flexible interpretation. Contrary to expectations the return of Sinai did not provoke fundamental change of direction. However, in spite of repeated assurances of stability and continuity, new elements are discernible within the government, especially as regards foreign policy, and these are worth analysing carefully.

Mubarak's Egypt

Mubarak's Egypt