While everyone is to blame, not just the government, for letting sectarian hatred fester in Egypt, now everyone must act to end it, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Egyptian politics is often depressing and mind numbing, but never more so than in the aftermath (...)
While the current political elite is likely to remain in power, by 2020 the dynamics of modernisation will have changed Egypt fundamentally, writes Amr Hamzawi *
I was caught between several ways to approach this forecast of the Egyptian scene in (...)
The first round of parliamentary elections in Egypt has left behind a political scene that is simultaneously frustrating and puzzling. The frustration is readily apparent--domestic observers and some local and international media correspondents have (...)
As the 28 November elections approach, the Muslim Brotherhood appears conflicted and troubled compared to its state before the 2005 parliamentary polls. Many in Egypt were taken aback by the Brotherhood's determination to participate in the coming (...)
It would be easy to dismiss Egypt's 29 November parliamentary elections as just one more chapter in Egypt's rather sad recent electoral history. The ruling National Democratic Party will get at least two-thirds of the seats, assuring its control (...)
The Arab world's lack of democracy is not the fault of the West, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Against a backdrop defined by social violence, sectarian tensions, conflict and the spectre of regional warfare, discussions of democracy, human rights, plurality (...)
What good is a free media when the preferred recourse is to demagoguery, asks Amr Hamzawy*
Differences in the socio-political realities that prevail in Egypt and Lebanon make it hard to draw comparisons between the two countries. Certain recent (...)
Through the eyes of his children, Amr Hamzawy* reflects on Egypt and Egyptians
My two children (Louai is seven and Nuh is four) have just started spending their summer vacations with me in Cairo. For the rest of the year, they live with their mother (...)
The Arab penchant to celebrate those opposed to the perceived root of Arab suffering has more than once led to the disgrace of Arabs lauding Nazi crimes, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Berlin, mid-1990s: The House of World Cultures (an institution dedicated to (...)
Western academics continue to debate the best means of promoting democracy, but in reference to the Arab world they misread the reasons for the democratic deficit, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Against the backdrop of the continued failure of democratic (...)
Yet again, Arab media diverted attention from the real issues at the heart of Israel's belligerence, writes Amr Hamzawy*
By means of three fallacies, a significant portion of Arab politicians, commentators and media figures transferred a number of (...)
While Islamist movements have learnt to communicate better, the practical fruits of engaging in the political processes of Arab countries have been few, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Several days ago, Nathan Brown, a political science professor at George (...)
The West's strategies to promote democracy in the region are self-defeating, argues Amr Hamzawy*
The declining interest on the part of Western governments in democratisation and human rights in the Arab world is mirrored by the attitude of Western (...)
With mid-term legislative elections coming up later this year, what steps can ordinary people take to dispel political monotony, asks Amr Hamzawy*
I would bet that a large number of Egyptians feel the way I do, which is very alienated from political (...)
The only beneficiary from the US government returning to the rhetoric of the war on terror is Al-Qaeda, writes Amr Hamzawy*
After a year of some respite on the subject, the return of the hullabaloo in the media surrounding the war on terrorism and (...)
It is the quest for religious purity that is at the heart of growing sectarian strife in Egypt, writes Amr Hamzawy*
On Orthodox Christmas day, six Copts were killed while coming out of churches in Nagaa Hammadi. The horrific crime, committed by (...)
Collapsing Arab states may well be a pattern in the future if the key fault lines between and within these states are not boldly addressed, writes Amr Hamzawi
It would not be journalistic hyperbole to say that the Arab world is passing through an (...)
Scholars are retreading the same old ground, calling for democratisation and human rights in the Arab world without effectively explaining their absence, writes Amr Hamzawy*
Both Western and Middle Eastern academic circles concerned with socio- (...)
While some are impatient that Obama makes progress on Middle East peace, his other foreign policy moves testify to his readiness to break from the past, writes Amr Hamzawi*
With more than nine months down since coming to the White House, the Obama (...)
BEIRUT: When will President Obama abandon the Bush doctrine of isolating Hamas? During a press conference in Gaza City a few weeks ago, Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, declared: "If there is a real project that aims at resolving (...)
While the state uses Islamic morals with expediency to stifle freedom of expression, Egypt will remain caught between conservatism and liberalism, embracing neither productively, writes Amr Hamzawy*
All too often in public discourse in Egypt (...)
BEIRUT: When it comes to democratic development in the Arab world, the ball is now squarely in the court of Islamic opposition movements. US President Barack Obama has spoken. Defying expectations that he would downplay domestic affairs and (...)
Obama has opened the door, if but a little, to Islamist movements in the Arab world. The question now is if they have the foresight to walk through it, write Amr Hamzawy and Jeffrey Christiansen
When it comes to democratic development in the Arab (...)
Political Islamists across the region face challenges in terms of accessing public life, but signs are that the challenges are allowing them to mature, writes Amr Hamzawi*
Earlier this month the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut organised a (...)
The Muslim Brotherhood's reaction to the Hizbullah controversy reveals that until now the movement is split in its strategic outlook between two opposing political directions, writes Amr Hamzawi*
The Muslim Brotherhood MPs did well in the People's (...)