Download full text
(382.1Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-54105-9
Exports for your reference manager
The Egyptian Interregnum: The High Cost of Suppressing Change
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
Abstract
"The old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appears." - Antonio Gramsci, The Prison Notebooks. The crisis Gramsci refers to is palpable in Egypt. The military regime, while putting little effort into preventing (or even slowing down) its own d... view more
"The old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appears." - Antonio Gramsci, The Prison Notebooks. The crisis Gramsci refers to is palpable in Egypt. The military regime, while putting little effort into preventing (or even slowing down) its own demise, is vehemently preventing the birth of "the new." Three years of legislative vacuum (preceding the recent election of a new, tamed parliament) and continuously resorting to the rhetoric of "war on terrorism" in order to brutally silence the opposition have completely blocked the political sphere and put the political system on hold. Meanwhile, the alliance backing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is fragile to the point of collapse. The government's lack of a clear overarching vision is leading to unprecedented levels of politicization, fragmentation, discord, and violation of the law within the state apparatus. Infighting seems no longer to be bracketed by a set of common interests. While the regime asks for patience as it pursues "stability" and "state building," it seems to be taking a path with two possible outcomes: total collapse or gradual decay, the morbid symptoms of which are already evident.... view less
Keywords
oppression; political power; government; military government; political change; legislation; terrorism; fight against terrorism; anti-terror policy; opposition; political system; formulation of political objectives; Egypt
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
6 p.
Series
DGAP kompakt, 6
ISSN
2198-5936
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications