It is essential not only to expose the ideological weaknesses of the current order, but to link the current political order with international neo-colonial ideology, replacing it with one based on the welfare of the average Arab citizen.
Syria's recent election is significant not because of its predictable outcome or because it has anything to do with democracy. Instead, it reflects the regime's consolidation of legitimacy and confidence against an embattled opposition.
What makes a person a rebel? What drove millions in the Arab World to defy their oppressive states and face death, time and time again? And can this sense of rebellion ever be replaced by a sense of normality, in which one accepts the new status quo?
Elections have exposed the fragility of Sisi’s rule and sent up warning signs of the dangerous path that will be pursued. Votes are being counted, and declaring Sisi the winner is just a formality. However, a tainted legitimacy will haunt him.
More than five months have passed since the kidnap of activists Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hammadeh, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi, who are a reminder that the Syrian revolution is up against more than the Assad regime.
The argument that economic development should precede human rights is tired and dangerous, though often seen. It will only be a matter of time until this becomes clear (again) in Egypt – but how much time will that take, with how much repression suffered beforehand?
Although the majority of Copts are perceived as supporters of Sisi and many do see him as a saviour from the Islamists, time may reveal that Sisi does not have their striving for equality or their attainment of full rights as first degree citizens at heart.
The world has been applauding Tunisia for its new progressive constitution and a new caretaker government of technocrats who are running the country until elections later this year. But do we have to accept ex-Ben Ali officials back into politics while the generation of change is being imprisoned?
The real question everyone should be discussing in Egypt is not who will win the next elections: but how will the situation in Egypt withstand such a precarious regime? All Sisi has is his gun.
The economy is the bedrock that any future Syria will be built on. This excerpt from the concluding sections of ECFR's policy brief explores what is left of that bedrock, how it has been transformed, and what European states can do in the light of the current state of Syria's economy.
While it is true that a civilian oversight on Egypt’s military might seem far from being attained for now, so is every other demand of the revolution. If 'human dignity' is one of the 25 January 2011 goals, then every political party and rights group should demand it for everyone.
