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Maged Mandour’s Followers (5)
Maged Mandour
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Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.
“The radical changes made by the Sisi regime were not only aimed at concentrating power in the hands of the military establishment, but also at creating structural barriers to the prospect of democratization. Indeed, there is a strong argument to be made that Sisi’s true and more enduring legacy are the formidable structural barriers that his regime erected in order to not just ensure that the events of 2011 were not repeated, but that if the pro-democracy movement was able to create a breach in the regime’s defences, it would face considerable obstacles and resistance from within the state apparatus. Indeed, the regime’s consistent policy has been the complete militarization of the state, the economy, and the public space in a manner that is extremely difficult to reverse. The task in 2011 was immense; now, more than a decade after the coup, it is gargantuan.
Indeed, the regime has successfully embarked on a policy that has insulated it from possible popular pressures, but this policy has also made the prospect of elite led reform extremely remote. Indeed, in its single-minded obsession of complete militarization of political life, it had created structural barriers to top-down reforms in a manner that will leave it brittle and unable to cope with social unrest. This could be the regime’s Achille’s heel, an argument that will be made in the rest of the book.
Introduction, Page 4”
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
Indeed, the regime has successfully embarked on a policy that has insulated it from possible popular pressures, but this policy has also made the prospect of elite led reform extremely remote. Indeed, in its single-minded obsession of complete militarization of political life, it had created structural barriers to top-down reforms in a manner that will leave it brittle and unable to cope with social unrest. This could be the regime’s Achille’s heel, an argument that will be made in the rest of the book.
Introduction, Page 4”
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
“The conception of the organic unity of the nation also plays a role in dampening social conflict, since, simply put, any form of struggle over the distribution of wealth or political and economic rights can be interpreted as sabotage of this perceived ‘unity’.”
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
“Starting from the premise of the organic unity of the nation, the opposition can be painted as social groups outside the ‘nation’, since, simply put, they threaten the nation’s natural harmony. However, this concept is only plausible if the regime, or, more precisely, the military, is able to portray itself as a representative of the nation and guardian of the state, which it has been very successful in doing. Hence, opposition to the military regime is equated with treason to the nation, and thus should be repressed by any means necessary.
The narrative used to solicit popular support involved the propagation of numerous conspiracy theories, including the claim that the events of 2011, the groups that participated in it, and those who support it are part of a systemic effort to destroy the Egyptian state, which was only thwarted by the military’s intervention in 2013.”
Chapter “Genesis”, page 33”
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
The narrative used to solicit popular support involved the propagation of numerous conspiracy theories, including the claim that the events of 2011, the groups that participated in it, and those who support it are part of a systemic effort to destroy the Egyptian state, which was only thwarted by the military’s intervention in 2013.”
Chapter “Genesis”, page 33”
― Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge
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