The Economist quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow H.A. Hellyer on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi:
According to H.A. Hellyer, an Egypt-watcher and senior fellow of the Atlantic Council, a think-tank in Washington, DC, Western governments can see perfectly well that Mr Sisi is growing harsher, not more liberal; but when they compare Egypt with the nightmarish situation in other Middle Eastern places, they are grateful for at least one large country that seems relatively stable. Still, social peace based on repression could be a short-sighted formula; at high levels in Western capitals, there was also a worry that in the medium term “Cairo’s policy may be counter-productive to its own stability.”