Coming Together: Why I’m Proud to be Egyptian
RACHEL MCARTHUR: Now I must admit that phrase had somewhat lost its meaning over the years. The government made its people lose the will to care.
Ramses II, Mubarak I: Spot the Difference
DANIEL M. VARISCO: His survival as Egypt’s modern day Pharaoh is looking less likely by the hour. How will his legacy stack up?
An Encounter with the Mukhabarat
AHMED MOOR, MONDOWEISS: While I was taking refuge behind the Leader of the Free World, a man likely to be beaten thought it important to comfort me.
Muddled US Policy Reflected in Footy ‘Friendly’
JAMES DORSEY: The USSF’s reluctance to cancel the match contrasts starkly with the Egyptian Football Association’s decision on Thursday to cancel all premier league matches…
Egypt: Where Were You on the Day When…
DAVID ROBERTS: How exactly people think things will ipso facto get better I don’t understand. You can’t eat or pay rent with democracy.
Egypt Public Opinion: Islamists or Modernizers
MICHAEL J. TOTTEN: I worry Egyptians are going to have to learn the hardest way possible – as the Iranians have – modernizers are better.
Egypt’s Class Conflict: An Elite, and Everyone Else
JUAN COLE: The failure of the regime to connect with working and middle classes, and its inability to provide jobs set the stage for last week’s events.
The Day the Egyptians Stopped Seeing the Joke
ALEXANDER MCNABB: Every time elections would come around, Egyptians would laugh about how this time he was going to lose. It struck me the other day the laughing had stopped.
Jordan ‘Uneasy’ On Palestine Papers Revelations
NASEEM TARAWNAH: The Palestine Papers may not reveal earth-shattering facts, they have, though, given us insights into the main characters.
A Message for Arab Poets: Stick to the Poetry!
M.LYNX-QUALEY: According to Syrian poet, Adonis, the Arab world is affected by a great ‘apathy’ – surely a criticism that can be brought no longer…
A View from the Street in Cairo: Fear, and Hope
SUHAIBWEBB: The curfew is in place, police have disappeared, essential supplies are running out. With the excitement there is also a sense of fear.
“Après Moi, le Déluge.” What lies post Mubarak?
CROSSROADS ARABIA: The big question, of course, is ‘After Mubarak, what?’ I’m sure Mubarak feels, as did Louis XV, Après moi, le déluge.
South Africa Provides Inspiration for Lebanon
DAVID BEATTY: There’s an aspect of South African society called ‘ubuntu’ – it means ‘interconnectedness’. It could point the way for Lebanon.
2022 World Cup Driving Qatari Labour Clean Up
JAMES DORSEY: The workers are a necessarily evil, but over time they are almost certain to change the nature of society – a notion that sends chills down Qatari spines.
A Message for Davos – Waste Not, Want Not
STEVE ROYSTON: Taxpayers’ money that could have been spent on new hospitals, refurbished schools, or improved public transport – down the drain.
After the Flood: Rising Saudi Anger Getting Response
ROB L. WAGNER: The Facebook images, twitter messages and online videos fuel Saudi anger and repeatedly raise the question why authorities learned nothing from 2009.
European Clubs See Opportunity in Middle East’s Failure in Asia Cup
JAMES M. DORSEY: Mounting criticism of Middle Eastern nations’ failure to nurture soccer talent has created a business opportunity for European clubs.
Tunisia: How We Got Here and the Task Ahead
RAMZY BAROUD: In Tunisia that ‘unprecedented anger” has reaped unprecedented results, leaving Tunisia with the great task of rebuilding a civil society.
The End of the Age of Mediocrity, the Rise of the Age of the People
OMAR AL-ISSAWI: For years I’ve observed with great sadness Arabs who glorified the achievements of a distant past while offering nothing for the future.
Soccer Fans Play Key Role in Egyptian Protests
JAMES M. DORSEY: The involvement of organized soccer fans in Egypt’s anti-government protests constitutes every Arab government’s worst nightmare.
