Discussing Bill, Brotherhood Upends Morsi’s Judicial Compromise
Egypt's top jurists suspended participation today in a government-backed conference to move forward on judicial reform, reigniting a political showdown with the country's judges. Lawmakers in the Muslim Brotherhood dominated Shura Council announced it would reexamine a contentious proposal opposed ...
May 15, 2013
Category: Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Featured, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, Parliament
US: Ahmed Maher Arrest “Step Backward” for Egypt
The U.S. State Department has called last week's arrest of April 6 co-founder Ahmed Maher a "step backward" for Egypt's democratic transition. The U.S. has expressed concern about what it sees as a growing trend of arrests against political ...
May 14, 2013
Category: Egypt, Featured, Freedom, Political Islam, Political transition, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Egypt’s Litigious Transition”
The Atlantic Council hosted an event for the release of their new issue brief titled "Egypt's Litigious Transition." The event featured Mahmoud Hamad, author of the issue brief and Assistant Professor at Drake University, and Yussef Auf, a nonresident fellow at The Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. The event was moderated by Dr. Michele Dunne, Director of The Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle ...
May 14, 2013
Category: Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Elections, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political transition, Reform
Press Release: POMED Condemns Arrest of Ahmed Maher
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2013 Project on Middle East Democracy Condemns Arrest of April 6 Leader Ahmed Maher The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) condemns the arrest of April 6 leader Ahmed Maher in Egypt today, Friday, May 10. According to an interior ministry official, Maher is accused of inciting a protest outside the house of Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim and is to be detained for four days pending an investigation. ...
Long-Awaited Cabinet Reshuffle Announced
After weeks of speculation on an imminent cabinet reshuffle, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi Tuesday named nine new ministers to his government. The overhaul, the second by Morsi since his election in June, adds two additional members of the ...
POMED Notes: “Egypt in Transition”
On Monday, May 6, the New America Foundation hosted an event titled “Egypt in Transition.” The event was moderated by Leila Hilal, Director of the Middle East Task Force at New America Foundation. Panelists included Ahmed Maher, co-founder and chief coordinator of the April 6 Youth Movement, Jawad Nabulsi, co-founder of the Nebny Foundation and founder of the Legislative Support Council, and Nur Laiq, Senior Policy Analyst at the International ...
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Report
In April, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued its annual report covering February 2012 through January 2013. From the MENA region, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia were listed as "Countries of Particular Concern" and Bahrain and Turkey were ...
May 1, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Egypt, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey
Freedom House: Press Freedom Declined in MENA, Globally
Freedom House released its annual report on freedom of the press around the world in 2012. The report identified a global decline, asserting that "the percentage of people worldwide who enjoy a free media environment fell to its ...
May 1, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Egypt, Featured, Freedom, Gulf, Human Rights, Journalism, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen
POMED Video of the Day: Michele Dunne, Tamara Wittes on Egypt
In an interview with Egyptian channel CBC, Michelle Dunne, Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, and Tamara Wittes, Director of the Brookings' Saban Center for the Middle East discuss the current situation in Egypt. Topics of focus include U.S. policy towards Egypt, the Egyptian opposition, and ongoing negotiations between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund.
May 1, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Economics, Egypt, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, NGOs, Political Islam, Political transition, Reform
Compromise Struck on Egypt Judicial Reform Bill
Compromise on a contentious draft law that would have forced nearly a quarter of Egypt's judges into retirement has been reached between the judiciary and the president's office. A crisis over the proposed law
April 29, 2013
Category: Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Featured, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, Protests
Iraq Suspends Ten TV Channels Amid Sectarian Violence
The Iraqi government suspended the broadcasting licenses of ten satellite television channels, including Al Jazeera. Iraq's Communication and Media Commission is imposing a ban on the operations of Al Sharqiyah, Al Sharqiyah News, Babylonian, Baghdad, Salah al-Din, Anwar ...
POMED Notes: “The New Egypt: Challenges of a Post-Revolutionary Era”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies held an event yesterday made up of two panels. The first panel, titled “The New Egypt and the West,” included Mr. Mostafa Al Hassan, Chairman and CEO of Global Consolidated Contractors, Dr. Khaled Ismail, Chairman of Endeavor Egypt, Dr. Manar El-Shorbagy, Former Deputy Secretary General of the Constitutional Assembly, and Mr. Naguib Sawiris, Executive Chairman of the Orascom Group, and was moderated by ...
Egypt Revolution “Unpredictably” Reshaping Islamists, Analyst Finds
In a report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Nathan Brown examines how the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafis and religious institutions in Egypt are being reshaped in fundamental ways by becoming increasingly involved in state politics. "For Egypt, ...
April 25, 2013
Category: Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Featured, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political transition
POMED Notes – The Stakes in Egypt: Political Action and Democratic Change
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted an event titled "The Stakes in Egypt: Political Action and Democratic Change." The event featured a presentation from Amr Hamzawy, founder of the Free Egypt Party, and was moderated by Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment. For full event notes continue reading or click here for the PDF. Amr Hamzawy began by discussing the events that have unfolded in Egypt over the past week. ...
April 24, 2013
Category: Democracy Promotion, Economics, Egypt, Elections, Event Notes, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Islam, Political transition, Reform
State Department Human Rights Country Report: Egypt
The State Department's 2012 report on human rights practices in Egypt notes a host of concerns resulting from the country's 2011 revolution and transition to democracy. Among the most problematic were the increased vulnerability of women and minorities ...
April 24, 2013
Category: Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Egypt, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, NGOs, Political transition
Congressmen Seek Conditions on U.S. Aid to Egypt
On Thursday, five Congressmen sent a letter to the House State and Foreign Operation Subcommittee on Appropriations requesting that it "include language to provide specific benchmarks and, moreover, an overall strategy for U.S. foreign aid to Egypt" in its ...
April 23, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, NGOs, US foreign policy, US politics
Egypt Opposition Warns of “Judges’ ‘Massacre’”
Leaders of Egypt's largest political opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, have called for fresh demonstrations against the government of President Mohamed Morsi over a draft law to reform the judiciary. The proposed law, drafted by President Morsi's ...
April 22, 2013
Category: Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Featured, Legislation, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition
POMED Notes – FY14 Department of State Budget Hearing
The United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs questioned Secretary of State John Kerry at the FY14 Department of State Budget Hearing on Thursday. Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) presided. For full event notes continue reading or click here for the PDF. In Senator Leahy's opening statement, submitted for the record, he said that, "We do not want a Democratic foreign policy or a Republican ...
April 21, 2013
Category: Civil Society, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Reform, Syria, US foreign policy
April 20, 2013
Category: Bahrain, Civil Liberties, Courts and Judiciary, Egypt, Elections, Featured, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Political transition, Qatar, Reform, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, US foreign policy, Yemen
POMED Notes: “U.S. Engagement with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood”
On Friday, April 12, the Center for American Progress hosted an event titled “U.S. Engagement with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.” The event was moderated by Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and featured Dr. John L. Esposito, Georgetown University Professor and Founding Director of Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; Michael Wahid Hanna, Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation; and Dr. James J. ...