An Initial Perspective on “The Winter of Discontent” THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
Hazem Fahmy April 12, 2012
INITIAL CHALLENGES Historical Heritage Demographic Complexities
Mubarak 1981-2011
Successive Layers of Policies and Fragmentations
The Researcher’s subjectivity
FROM REFORM TO REVOLUTION
The People Want to Oust the Regime
Bread
Freedom Social Justice
JANUARY 25, 2011
JANUARY 28, 2011
THREE RESEARCH STRANDS
Economic Corruption
Thirty Years of Emergency Law
and Profiteering
Political Corruption and the Succession Debate
Mubarak’s era 1981 - 2011
I. THIRTY YEARS OF EMERGENCY LAW 1981-2012
Missed by a hair’s breadth Trial of Sadat’s Extremist Assassins
President Sadat’s Assassination, Oct. 6, 1981
Religion & Politics • The Muslim Brotherhood • The Islamic Militant Groups • The Returnees from Afghanistan – Al-Qaeda
Police Brutality • The Persona of Egypt: • Centrism & Totalitarianism • Conformity & Compliance • The Egyptian Modern Police
RELIGION & POLITICS: A Century of Altercation 1 • The establishment of the MB in 1928 by Hassan Al-Banna • The Muslim Brotherhood’s Secret Apparatus and Scouts The assassination campaign The assassination of Hassan Al-Banna • Sayyed Qutb and the radicalization of the MB Persecution under Nasser’s regime. • Sadat’s fatal mistake The rise of militant Islamic groups.
Hassan Al-Banna
Sadat’s assassination. • The MB under Mubarak’s regime The MB and violence The MB and other militant groups Co-opting the MB
Sayyed Qutb
RELIGION & POLITICS: A Century of Altercation 2 9/11
• The radical militant religious groups • The War in Afghanistan • Local, regional and international terrorism • 9/11 Ayman AlZawahry
Hassan Al-Banna
The Camp David Accords
The returnees from Afghanistan
The Personality of Egypt: Historical Perspective
Dr Gamal Hamdan
Egypt: The Gift of the Nile
Centrality and Totalitarianism
THE EGYPTIAN POLICE: A historical perspective • The Creation of a Modern Security Apparatus Following the assassination of PM Boutros Pasha Ghali, 1910 • The Political Police Under the control of British Occupation Forces. • The 1952 Republic’s Security Apparatus Established with the support of former Nazi officers • The State Security Agency
The assassination of Boutros Pasha Ghali
Boutros Pasha Ghali
II. EVOLUTION OF EGYPTIAN POLICE BRUTALITY
FREEDOM
Erosion of individual liberties
Dr Ayman Nour
Systematic torture in Egyptian prisons
Erosion of individual liberties Systematic torture in Egyptian prisons SSA control over domestic/civil life Unholy alliance with business and political elites • Targeting of political opponents. • • • •
Ibrahim Issa, Journalist
Dr Saad Aldine Ibrahim
II. ECONOMIC CORRUPTION & ROFITEERING
PHASE II: PHASE I: FIXING THE INFRASTRUCTURE (1981-1991)
ECONOMIC REFORM POLICY (1991-1999)
PHASE III: RAMPANT POLITICAL CORRUPTION (2000-2011)
THE RICH GOT RICHER, THE
POOR GOT POORER
BREAD & SOCIAL JUSTICE
THE POOR GOT POORER Egyptian Economy Status in 2006
30 millions Unemployed or working in informal sector
Other
10 millions Employed in marginal economy sector
12.2 millions Living in slums
Population 72.8 million
EGYPT’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: A historical perspective
King Farouk I The Alawide Monarchy ruled Egypt 1805-1952
Gamal Abdel-Nasser
Anwar Al-Sadat
Hosni Mubarak
Gamal Mubarak
Nasser’s Socialist Nationalist Regime 1954 - 1970
Sadat’s Liberal State 1970-1981
Mubarak’s regime 1981-2011
The Egyptian Revolution January 25th, 2011
III. POLITICAL CORRUPTION & THE SUCCESSION
Gamal Mubarak at the National Democratic Party 2009
Elections 2010 Rigged
Ahmed Ezz, Monopolist, mastermind who turned a sour deal
Police Syndicated “Thugs”
BREAKING THE
FEAR BARRIER Organic Intellectuals Such as Ibrahim Issa
ElBaradei returns to lead the Egyptian Front for Change Kefaya & George Ishac
The April 6th, 2008 Strike by Al-Mahalla Textile Labor
THE EGYPTIAN
YOUTH FACTOR
The torture and murder of Khaled Said (top and right) inspired Wael Ghoneim (left) to create the facebook title that coordinated the uprising
Young men and women networking via social media claimed their country back
26 year old Asmaa Mahfouz posted a vlog that mobilized thousands unto the Egyptian streets on January 25th
Headquarters of the National Democratic Party were one of the few buildings set on fire in the early days of the uprising
THE PEOPLE WANT THE REGIME
DOWN!
… WORK IN PROGRESS … WORK IN PROGRESS… WORK IN PROGRESS…
THANK YOU