Egyptian military
When the Egyptian military took control of the Egyptian political system in February 2011, its heavy handed conduct and a series of missteps led Egyptians to ask one another: Were the generals incompetent or malevolent? That question can now be answered: They devised a political transition for Egypt that was so bad that it has led to the current crisis. They were far less an evil master sorcerer than they were a very hapless sorcerer’s apprentice. READ MORE >>
Business as Usual
Obama’s Middle East Is in Tatters, Utter Tatters
The Case Against Our Attack on Libya
There are so many things wrong with the Libyan intervention that it is hard to know where to begin. So, a few big things, in no particular order: READ MORE >>
Stop Calling It Egypt’s Revolution
Why The Administration Was Surprised By Mubarak's Speech
When Hosni Mubarak announced last night he planned to stay in office until September, the Obama administration appeared totally shocked. Why? Almost certainly because the administration has been working closely with the Egyptian military, and the military was shocked as well: READ MORE >>
Pyramid Schemes
On the surface, it seems as if tomorrow's Egyptian elections will be a dreary formality. Although the official campaigning period for the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of parliament, has been going for two weeks, the streets of Cairo are noticeably silent. The only overt evidence of political gamesmanship is the paraphernalia of the ruling party’s candidates plastered in the city’s central squares. READ MORE >>
The Party Line
Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present By Yevgeny Primakov Translated by Paul Gould (Basic Books, 418 pp., $29.95) READ MORE >>
