Bastion Of Protest In Ancient Egypt

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Egypt Uprising of 2011." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 22 Apr.

I grew up in my home country Egypt, in a time some may say I was lucky to have experienced and been a part of. I took part in helping a nation overthrow its dictator who reigned with tyranny longer than I had been alive. I am an Egyptian youth, who fought for my people’s stolen prosperity and withheld freedom against the famous thirty year old Mubarak regime. The Egyptian revolution was televised and kept under the global eye throughout each of its progressions, from start to end yet not holistic in merit.

Egypt is a lower middle income country in North Africa in the middle eastern region, with a population of, according to Freedom House (2016), about 89 million. The capital of Egypt is Cairo, there is a GDP/Capita of $3,198.70, and the aggregate score is at 27. It’s Freedom Status is reported as “Not Free”, with scores ranging from 5-6 (Freedom Rating: 5.5, Political Rights: 6, Civil Liberties: 5). The unemployment rate was recorded at 12.5 percent in mid 2016, which is up from 9 percent before 2011, and is quite a concern, with even higher rates amongst the youth and women. Data indicated the 28 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 2015, with poverty rates as high

E r: As you well know, Egypt is presently in a state of crisis as a result of the revolution that took place last year. However, in spite of the fact that our combined forces succeeded in removing former President Hosni Mubarak from the country's presidency little has changed in the country. People continue to be abused and our economy is rapidly falling as it is handled by individuals who are predisposed to corruption.

Five years after the arab revolutions began, we can observe many differences as well as similarities between Tunisia and Egypt. Tunisia was the first country that started the revolts, and since then has had many successes, including the adoption of a constitution. Despite many of the setbacks, interruptions, and serious crises Tunisia has been through these past few years, as long as they do not have any more upheavals of power, the evidence seems to prove they can transform their government into a more stable democracy. In contrast, Egypt also attempted to become democratic, but soon after reverted back to an authoritarian and oppressive regime that has become increasingly more militaristic, and at the moment it seems that a new attempt of becoming democratic is unlikely to start unless people decide on gathering again and participating in other uprisings. In order to understand why these two countries moved in such opposite directions, the causes of the riots, external pressures, religious influences, civil rights political liberties and current problems.

The fifty years between the Second World War and the nineties in Egypt were colored by a great number of political, social, economic, and cultural changes. Following the Coup in 1952, the Egyptian nation became a symbol for the decolonization movement and Third Worldism. This level of hegemony would have a lasting effect on the sociopolitical and economic sphere for years to come. Nasser and his Free Officers, much like the fathers of the ‘Liberal Experiment’, made grandiose promises to the Egyptian people: a nation all their own, freedom from all the oppressors, universal economic equality, human rights, the list goes on. Although the goals of Egyptian socialism were noble, they were not fulfilled. The problems of an authoritarian and militant state, defeat in the 67 war, political corruption, economic instability, and cultural bankruptcy kept Nasser, as well as his successors, from giving the people what was promised. And, as history would show, when citizens of a nation are promised something and they do not receive it, dissidence occurs - in Egypt specifically with political Islam and the revival of fundamentalism. What makes these elements of Egyptian history so valuable is that they intersect with one another - the details of each social, political, cultural, or economic element provide understanding for the ‘big picture’ in Egypt. Looking at the events of the past, one can gain a more concise understanding of Egypt in present day.

The economy of any civilization is inherently dependent on a well-founded political system. A well-founded political system, on the other hand, largely impacts on the social well-being of the people. In this regard, all these factors, as Abdou & Zaazou (2013) afford, are deeply interrelated in the sense that they converge to provide a favorable environment for socio-economic development. At the start of the Egyptian revolution in 2011, the country was largely plagued by inconsistency as it pertained to the equitable distribution of wealth, and the lack of social justice (Mossallem, 2013). As a matter of fact, Wahba (2011) provides that it was the tyrannical rule of former President Hosni Mubarak that inadvertently led to the resentment expressed by the general public at Tahrir Square. Many commentators on the Egyptian revolution have always attested to the increasing police brutality of civilians, uncontrolled high levels of corruption in government circles, the lack of freedom of speech, and the lack of elections, as some of the intrinsic factors that stimulated the occurrence of the 2011 revolution. While it is important to recognize the role of the revolution in ousting authoritarianism in Egypt, it is also imperative that we recognize the resulting implications, many of which have negatively impacted on the economic state of Egypt, resulting in a raging economic crisis. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2013) provides that economic

The recent revolutions in Egypt divided Egyptians’ into two sectors: The supporters of Muslim brotherhood, and the supporters of the Egyptian army “Anti-Muslim brotherhood group”. It created diversity in Egyptians’ social life (Fleishman & Hassan, 2013). To know why this problem started in Egypt we need to study both sectors, because a problem like that cannot exist over night. It is definitely an accumulation of long decades.

Egypt’s revolution did not live up to the expectations of its people. Egypt experienced mass protests in February 2011 (Berman, 2013). As a result, former president Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign. Following his resignation, the Egyptian military assumed temporary presidential powers. At the meantime, Egypt was witnessing its very first democratic elections (Berman, 2013). The latter saw the overwhelming victory of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood’s Party, electing Mohamed

The book touches on topics with a broad range from politics to economy to geography. The book is solely based on research of the Egyptian government from the time when Mubarak took power, 1981, up until the writing of the book which was in 1989.

The political cataclysms in the Arab world during 2011 have once and for all transformed the Middle East. Arab societies and polities do indeed have tight interconnections and share at least some important Characteristics. The longstanding structural problems and turbulence in Arab world is due to the lack of strong leadership and irresponsible, incompetent and irrational leaders. Furthermore, people took on the streets and protest due to the vast increases in the level of Poverty, persistently high unemployment, rampant corruption, internal regional inequalities, and deterioration of economic conditions. Also, widespread and extensive political grievances constituted a common causal thread behind all the uprisings. The Arab spring led

Since 2013, including president El Sissy’s first year in power, there have been no real political or security reforms. The current regime continued to work without a legislative body for more than two years, with the president issuing hundreds of legislative bills without any real community or political dialogue (Abd Rabou 2015) . The surveillance system in Egypt simply does not work while the presidency and other security services have a strict hold on power and while human rights violations are made by police officers in police stations, prison cells, and even on the streets. All of which is a continued replay of Mubarak’s security policies. The constitution has been violated many times by the regime and the president declared it to be “too ambitious” .

The selection was narrowed to four subcategories that are of particular concern for Egypt, but could also reasonably expected to be addressed through institutional reform. First, legitimacy of the state has been an urgent concern since the revolution, corruption has been widespread throughout all aspects of the government, which severely hinders the functioning of government. Additionally, security has been a grave concern in Egypt, partially due to the failures that stem from the lack of a legitimate state. Conflict often arises between the military government and various groups, and these conflicts often end in violence and fatalities. Furthermore, security forces will imprison political dissidents for little to no reason. Human rights violations are also commonplace within Egypt, those who are incarcerated are often subject to inhumane conditions and torture and press freedom is at the will of the state. Furthermore, group grievance has been enhanced in recent years, particularly concerning discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities and the violence that ensues. Combined, these four indicators allowed for a more specialized analysis of the variables that concern Egypt.

The Arab Republic of Egypt has shown the effects of Electoral Violence, when the overthrow of the Islamic President Mohammed Morsi in June 2013 resulted in a string of violent incidents, widely recognized as the Egyptian Crisis. Between July 3, 2013 and January 31, 2014, an estimated total of 3,143 Egyptians have been killed in various acts of political violence. Over 17,000 Egyptians are estimated were wounded in more than 1,100 demonstrations and clashes between July 3, 2013 and February 28, 2013. An estimated 18,977 Egyptians were detained for reasons relevant to the country’s political turmoil between July 3 and December 31, principally from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations.

Tens of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators took to the streets on 25 January, young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, educated and not so-educated. They all chanted “Long live Egypt”, “Life, liberty and human dignity” and “Down with the Mubarak regime”.