TIME’s Abigail Hauslohner and Craig Duff went to Cairo’s Tahrir Square Jan. 25 and spoke with many demonstrators who fear the continued preeminence of the country’s military will sabotage Egyptian hopes for true democracy. Others, particularly supporters of Islamist parties that now dominate Egypt’s newly-convened parliament, were more optimistic.
Egypt
Why Were Six Americans Barred from Leaving Egypt?
Egypt has banned at least six Americans, including the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, from leaving the country. It’s the latest in a series of embarrassing blows dealt to the Obama Administration, which is also …
Egyptians Mark First Anniversary of Their Revolution
One year after protesters massed in Tahrir Square, tens of thousands mark their revolution’s anniversary
Must Reads from Around the World: Jan. 25, 2012
Daring Raid — U.S. Special Forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday, and rescued two hostages, including an American woman, who had been kidnapped by pirates. The New York Times pieces together the details, noting that it …
Egypt’s Islamists On the Verge: Will They Make Campaign Rhetoric Reality?
As Egyptians vote this week in the third and final round of elections for the lower house of parliament, the country prepares to usher in its first ever Islamist-led government, and the second Islamist parliament to be elected in …
Armed Camps: Where Militaries Meddle with Democracy
The Egyptian military’s latest attempt to circumvent the results of national elections has stoked scrutiny of the top brass in Cairo. Global Spin looks at countries where the army is currently meddling in politics.
Israel on the Islamist Surge in Egypt: Told You So
The stunning showing by Salafist parties in the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections surprised Israeli officials as much as the rest of the world. The estimated 40 percent of the vote that went to the Muslim …
Dispatch from Tahrir: For Egypt’s Liberals, Election Is a Hard Vote to Swallow
It’s been a topsy-turvy few days for the Tahrir Square youths who brought down Egypt’s dictatorship at the height of the Arab Spring. Last week, they returned to the square to save the revolution from being hijacked by the …
As Islamists Dominate Egypt’s Election, the Power Struggle with the Military Begins
The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt’s political mainstream, and its most significant challengers are the more extreme Islamists of the Salafi movement rather than the secular liberal forces that dominate the Tahrir Square protest movement. That appears to be the not-exactly-surprising verdict of the electorate, according to reports from …
Why Egypt’s Election is a Game-Changer — At the Expense of Tahrir Square
The message of the historic Egyptian election, which began Monday with huge crowds turning out to vote in the protest-scarred cities of Cairo and Alexandra, is a simple one: Egypt’s immediate political future will not be written in Tahrir Square, or by the revolutionaries who last week lost 40 of their comrades to violence by the …
Hamas Edges Closer to the Mainstream: Agreeing to Nonviolence, Opening the Door to Recognizing Israel
The leaders of the two biggest Palestinian parties met in Cairo on Thanksgiving, and just going by the headlines afterward, you’d have thought nothing had happened. “Palestinians talk unity, no sign of progress,” said Reuters. AP: “Palestinian rivals talk, but fail to resolve rifts.” But read the stories, and it becomes clear that a …
Cairo in Turmoil: Obama’s Plan B Stumbles, What’s Plan C?
The reason the Obama Administration has been so reluctant to criticize Egypt’s military junta for its violent handling of the latest round of democracy protests is that the generals have, all along, been Washington’s preferred stewards of post-Mubarak political change. The State Department on Tuesday finally condemned the “excessive …
Five Faulty Foreign Policies from the GOP National Security Debate
As all surely expected from a field of candidates with little genuine foreign policy experience, a lot of silly things were said during last night’s GOP national security debate. Rick Santorum called Africa a “country.” Michelle Bachmann, who, as a sitting member of the House Intelligence Committee should know better, claimed …