Middle East

Egypt, the Election, and Sectarian Analysis

By Jayson Casper

One day before the beginning of presidential elections, the Egyptian Center for Media Studies and Public Opinion (ECMSPO) published the results of a counterintuitive poll. Based on personal interviews with 10,524 citizens throughout Egypt’s governorates, they predicted a turnout of only 10 percent.

Sissi Wins But How Will He Rule?

By Barbara Slavin

There was never any doubt about the outcome of Egypt’s presidential elections: with the full power of the state behind him and no real competition, Field Marshal Abdel Fatah el-Sissi has won more than 90 percent of the vote. But desperate efforts by the government to boost the turnout by extending voting to three days have […]

Egypt Elections: Preliminary Statements by Two International Observation Missions

By EgyptSource

The two major international election observation delegations present for the 2014 Egyptian presidential election, the European Union’s Election Observer Mission (EUEOM) and the US-based Democracy International (DI), released their preliminary statements at press conferences in Cairo today, May 29, the day after the polls closed. Both groups plan to prepare a final report in the […]

Dispatch from Assiut: No Country for Poor Men

By Laura Dean

There was really no need to fly a plane full of journalists to a campaign event in a town in Upper Egypt. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to win by a landslide. Upon arrival, there was little to see. The main event, a rally for the former army chief in the province of Assiut, boasted […]

Syria: What Does the President Really Want?

By Frederic C. Hof

President Barack Obama’s West Point commencement address seemed to signal, albeit ambiguously, a new direction in US policy toward Syria: one in which “the president will seek the support of Congress in arming, training, and equipping Syrian rebels.” But not so fast. In a subsequent background briefing an unnamed senior administration official said that what […]

Algeria Needs Reform Strategy to Avoid Upheaval

Just weeks after Algeria’s sitting President Abdulaziz Bouteflika was confirmed to serve a fourth term in an election highly criticized by the opposition, the question is raised: what are the prospects for economic and political reform in the North African country in light of mounting economic pressures?

Egypt Will Greet New President with Economic Crises

By Mohsin Khan

As Egypt concludes its latest presidential election, its new leader will have no choice but to address the country’s looming and deep-seated economic woes. With macroeconomic indicators tanking since the uprising in 2011, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi–all but officially announced as the winner of the top post–will have to grapple with rising inflation, widespread unemployment, […]