GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

In Egypt, the Revolution Rolls On

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Hilal Khashan
Board of Contributors

Feb 11, 2018 | 17:13 GMT

A billboard promotes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who will stand for re-election to a second term in office in March.

On Jan. 22, 2018, Egyptians in Cairo drive past a billboard bearing the image of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is running for re-election in a vote scheduled for March.

(MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • On taking power in 2014, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi dismantled the deep state that formed under decades of authoritarian rule, only to replace it with his own version.
  • Al-Sisi derives his power not from a single-party system — as many of his predecessors did — but from the military, the media and the youth population.
  • The president's focus on maintaining power, to the exclusion of Egypt's social and economic problems, will eventually cause his demise.

The 2011 Arab Spring uprisings brought unprecedented change to Egypt. But even when millions of protesters forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down after 30 years in office, much of the country's power structure remained in place. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) held fast to power as it scrambled to respond, launching Cabinet reshuffles, partially lifting the state of emergency and prosecuting officials from Mubarak's fallen government. These moves, however, seemed more an attempt to appease the public than an earnest effort to reform the Egyptian political system. During his brief stint in office, President Mohammed Morsi made no attempt to push the army out of politics and instead opted to work with select factions of the military against others. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the director of military intelligence, appeared willing to work with Morsi, who made him minister of defense....

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