Muslim Brotherhood
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Political activism in the Gulf
The UAEʹs policy of zero tolerance
The repression of political dissidents such as Ahmed Mansoor belies the UAEʹs well-publicised attempts to brand itself as a promoter of tolerance, argues Joe Stork. Yet the West's staunch ally in the Gulf has little to fear in the way of criticism
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Social utopia on the Nile?
Sisiʹs new breed of Egyptians
According to the Egyptian government, Egypt is once again experiencing a great civilizational awakening. A campaign aimed at producing a new multicultural identity has been launched, but the progressive slogans mask a more sinister agenda. By Joseph Croitoru
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Maghreb
Moroccoʹs PJD on course to self-destruct
By drowning the PJD in procedures and decisions, Moroccoʹs ruling elite is using the same approach it applied to cripple another former coalition partner, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces. Does this gradual assimilation of the PJD into the establishment signal the end of the Islamistsʹ participation in the democratic process? By Mohamed Taifouri
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The personality cult of Egypt's former president
Nasser is everywhere
Hagiography on the Nile: the cult of Gamal Abdel Nasser continues to spread, in part because it serves the purposes of Egypt's incumbent president. By Joseph Croitoru
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Not-so-splendid isolation
Erdogan's geopolitical nightmare
Turkey’s emergence as a regional power has provoked suspicion, shaking the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond. As a result, relations with many regional players have deteriorated over the last decade. With diplomatic ties to the West currently at an historic low, is Turkey likely to end up out on a limb? By Stasa Salacanin
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Eight years after the Arabellion
The Egyptian opposition's seven deadly sins
On 25 January 2011, millions of Egyptians took to the streets demanding "bread, freedom, social justice". Eight years later, the democratic opposition is divided because it has been unable to offer an alternative to the military state, says political scientist Taqadum Al-Khatib
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Media and politics in the Arab world
The despotsʹ henchmen
The murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi highlights the difficulties facing media in post-revolutionary Arab states. The freedoms temporarily gained after 2011 have long since fallen victim to the authoritarian restoration. By Loay Mudhoon
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President Sisi and Al-Azhar
Wresting religious authority from the Grand Imam
An arcane dispute between Egyptʹs president and Al-Azhar over how much society is threatened by debating the authenticity of hadiths and their role in Islamic law is really about moral leadership in society. By Nathan J. Brown and Cassia Bardos
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Sisi and the military
Egyptʹs sham modernity
The constant state of denial that is a feature of the Egyptian urban middle class and the Sisi regime shores up a deeply paradoxical ideological construct, argues Maged Mandour, where repression is deemed necessary, yet must remain covert
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Western diplomacy in crisis
What to do about Khashoggi?
The abduction or even murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi would constitute a dangerous escalation in the Saudi government's campaign to clamp down on its critics. According to Guido Steinberg, the West should react with as much determination as it did towards Moscow following events in Salisbury
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Sufism in Egypt
Sufis, sheikhs and charlatans
Sufism has a tradition going back centuries in Egypt. Now the government is coming out in support of the mystics in a bid to undermine Islamism. Some fear that the essence of the movement will be lost in the process – but there are other more unexpected by-products of the Sufi trend. Christian Meier reports from Cairo.
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Alaa Al Aswanyʹs novel "The Republic of False Truths"
Elias Khoury salutes Al Aswanyʹs courage
Lebanese novelist and critic Elias Khoury pays tribute to Alaa Al Aswanyʹs new novel as the only comprehensive literary chronicle of the January 2011 Egyptian revolution, charting the tragic fate of those who were killed, imprisoned and tortured against a background of the diabolical alliance between the Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood