From Reuters: Egyptian air strikes destroyed 12 vehicles loaded with arms, ammunition and explosive material trying to cross the border from Libya, the army spokesman said on Tuesday. The airforce acted after hearing that "criminal elements" had gathered to try and cross the western boundary, the army statement said, without giving details on exactly where … Continue reading Egypt’s War On Sunni Supremacism Goes To Libya
Egyptian Copts Slaughtered In A Bid To Start A Civil War
Hi everyone! I've started to do some work over The Inquisitr, so I'll be putting most of my daily briefs over there from now on. I'll throw links here as well when relevant. Thanks for everyone's support! Today's is about the horror in Egypt, as Sunni supremacists yet again try to cause a civil war to … Continue reading Egyptian Copts Slaughtered In A Bid To Start A Civil War
Donald Trump is Going to Love Egypt’s Dictator
Abdel Fatah al Sisi will get big smiles from Trump, but perhaps not much else.
Why Israel Is Too Hot To Talk About (Or, Why Internet Discussions About It Descend Rapidly Into Idiocy)
Nations don't have friends, they have interests. Thanks De Gaulle! Such an idea underpins much in foreign relations. Nobody out there is friends with your country, much as you might think they are. And yet, quite stubbornly, the U.S.-Israeli relationship continues to be categorized not as a strategic one but one based on fraternal bonds … Continue reading Why Israel Is Too Hot To Talk About (Or, Why Internet Discussions About It Descend Rapidly Into Idiocy)
The Role of Trauma in Building a Nation-State
In the abstract of geopolitical discussion, it's easy to forget that, when you talk about states breaking or nations splitting, you're talking about large groups of people suffering unbelievable trauma. I just watched this, from Aleppo in Syria, which details what seems to be a ballistic missile strike in a neighborhood (and it's just as … Continue reading The Role of Trauma in Building a Nation-State
Egypt’s Gone Up In Flames After All
Typically, this blog gets updates only on Mondays and Fridays (USA time until I'm back in the Middle East), but today's events in Egypt warrant a brief update. I've written before about how Egypt will have neither a Syrian-style civil war nor a stable government for a long time. The actions today fit right into … Continue reading Egypt’s Gone Up In Flames After All
Where the hell did political Islam come from?
Contrary to some true Islamophobic believers, politics and Islam have not always gone hand in hand. Under the Ottoman Empire, most Muslim territories were going the same way as Christian Europe – faithful but modernizing, scientific but not atheistic. Up until the 1950s, the difference in religious participation between Europeans and Muslims wasn’t that much. … Continue reading Where the hell did political Islam come from?
The Muslim Brotherhood chooses a fight it can’t win (Or, how to lose an urban war)
So begins the cycle of violence in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has thrown down and called for rebellion against the army; some will heed that call. But Egypt is no Syria. Should there be something like a civil war, it will be far faster and decisive in Egypt than Syria. Here’s why. Egypt’s population density … Continue reading The Muslim Brotherhood chooses a fight it can’t win (Or, how to lose an urban war)
Egypt is an Ungovernable Mess (and will stay so for a long time)
Egypt’s coup caught some people off-guard. It shouldn’t have. Egypt’s becoming increasingly hard to rule. In the short and medium term, Egypt’s going to experience more and more chaos. Alas, because of Egypt’s deeply-rooted problems, no government – Brotherhood or military, secular or Islamist – is going to be able to govern Egypt successfully anytime … Continue reading Egypt is an Ungovernable Mess (and will stay so for a long time)
Egypt’s Revolution Won’t Follow Iran’s (Because Nobody’s That Stupid)
Back they go! A bit of yelling, quite a lot of screaming, and a few gunshots here and there, and the people of Egypt are on the streets calling for another regime to fall. It would be easy to say Egypt is on the cusp of falling to a yet another theocratic dictatorship akin to … Continue reading Egypt’s Revolution Won’t Follow Iran’s (Because Nobody’s That Stupid)
