The Phenomena of extremism and forcefulness are human Phenomena that exist in all societies, extremism for thought or belief or opinion is considered as disease witnessed by various societies, and led in many cases to wars, confrontations, acts of (...)
Historically, one of the most salient features of the Egyptian state has been that it is a centralised one. Attempts to break the hold of the central state have never succeeded. True, this state has suffered moments of weakness and frailty, which (...)
Hamas is part of the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood. This is how this Islamic resistance organisation defines itself in its charter, produced in 1988. A Muslim Brotherhood chapter has existed in Palestine since the 1940s. It (...)
The National Salvation Front (NSF) seems barraged by criticism from all sides these days. In addition to the usual campaigns of distortion and vilification from the Islamist spectrum (the Freedom and Justice Party and its smaller siblings the Wasat (...)
Egypt is a land of diversity, a place where multiple ethnicities, cultures and religions coexist, if not blend together. The country that was once home to Joseph and Moses gave refuge to the holy family in times of repression. It gave Christianity (...)
The recently publicised version of the draft constitution triggered heated public debate and heightened tensions between political forces. Moreover, at least one facet of the controversy rebounded into the halls of the Constituent Assembly itself. (...)
Latin American countries successfully made the shift from repressive dictatorship to robust democracies. Yet Egypt remains loath to learn from their experiences, writes Emad Gad
In the mid-1980s most Latin American countries were in the grip of (...)
The non-materialisation of billions of dollars of investment promised by the Muslim Brotherhood is being blamed on a lack of awareness of the Egyptian people. Is it fair, asks Emad Gad
When the parliamentary election results came in last autumn and (...)
The terrorist attack in Rafah presents the first major challenge to President Mohamed Mursi and his new government, Emad Gad explains why
At sunset on Sunday officers and soldiers of the border patrol in Rafah were breaking their Ramadan fast when (...)
At a conference of the Arab Parliamentary Union a few months ago, representatives of Arab and Islamic countries failed to include Israeli violations of holy sites in occupied Jerusalem on the agenda of discussions as an emergency issue. Meanwhile, (...)
For a long time, debate over “Egypt's identity” has been unwelcome in many circles in Egypt because of the campaign by nationalists and Islamists regarding the country's character. They tried to push Egypt's identity to the backdrop of debate for (...)
Tel Aviv can no longer demand that Egypt's hands be tied in controlling its border, while then complaining that Egypt is failing to provide security, writes Emad Gad
On 18 August, a group of gunmen carried out an attack near Eilat, an Israeli resort (...)
The attack on a police station in Al-Arish by an extremist fundamentalist group who follow Al-Qaeda's ideology, though it is not clear if they are linked to the organisation or not, raised many questions about Egypt's national security in general (...)
Conspiracy has been part of human interaction since the dawn of history and it is also inherent in international relations. Conspiratorial thought and intrigue have evolved in modern times into conspiracy theories that play a prominent part in (...)
As the date of the opening session of the UN General Assembly in September approaches, there is growing debate over whether the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) should seek recognition of an independent Palestinian state, or if this is a futile (...)
We can summarise the ongoing debate in Egypt around several topics in one sentence: “A battle over the character of the Egyptian state”. Those who purport that elections must be held on time in September or that elections should come first, followed (...)
In place of the old policies which were designed to safeguard the regime's interests, new approaches to the Palestinian question and other regional issues are being drawn up that will reflect Egypt's new voice
After the ouster of Hosni Mubarak and (...)
Numerous political forces and elements participated in the national accord conference that began on Saturday, 21 May, to reach agreement on the general principles that should be points of convergence when penning Egypt's new constitution. Yehia (...)
The crime in Imbaba where two churches were burnt is a natural outcome of the bitter crop harvested since the seeds of sectarianism were planted in Egyptian soil by the Sadat regime in 1970. The Mubarak regime, in its dying days, on purpose let (...)
Without any prior notice, it was announced on Wednesday 27 April that the representatives of Fatah and Hamas had signed a national reconciliation document or “the Egyptian proposal.” On 4 May, the document was finalized and signed by Palestinian (...)
After the January 25 Revolution succeeded in achieving its goal of overthrowing the regime and started prosecutions against its prominent figures, old political forces began moving to strengthen their presence on the street. The regime's formula of (...)
Although the Muslim Brotherhood were not one of the groups who called for protests on 25 January, it soon entered into the fray and participated with nationalist forces in demonstrations which morphed into a popular revolution. The Muslim (...)
Before the 25 January Revolution, Egypt was on the edge of implosion for many reasons, most importantly for religious reasons after the Egyptian regime succeeded during the early 1970s in polarising the public domain religiously, pushing society to (...)
In an article entitled “Democracy, a problem,” Yoav Bromer wrote in Haaretz on 19 October 2009 that as democracy spreads in Middle East countries it becomes a problem for Israel. According to him, this is because Israel signs and maintains peace (...)
Now that the revolution has exposed the myth that the region will fall into the hands of Islamists if its dictators fall, Egyptians must guard against the tricks of the old regime as they move towards a civil state
The world was surprised by the (...)