Vol 53 No 5 | EGYPT Unity on cash crisis 2nd March 2012 The IMF offers concessions to the Islamist-dominated parliament The Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Freedom and Justice Party, the largest in the new Parliament, is now on a neo-liberal economic course as it supports government proposals to borrow...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 4 | EGYPT Mohammed Saad al Katatni 10th February 2012 People’s Assembly Speaker In a victory for the long-frustrated ambitions of the Muslim Brotherhood, the People’s Assembly has elected Mohammed Saad al Katatni, a stalwart of the MB’s political wing, as Spea...
Vol 53 No 3 | LIBYA Waiting for government 3rd February 2012 Credible institutions remain a distant prospect as the NTC, militias and others compete for authority Three months have passed since liberation was officially declared but no functioning government is in sight or even on the horizon. The oil sector is the only operational administr...
Vol 53 No 3 | LIBYA From Gadaffi to Qatar 3rd February 2012 The lake in Benghazi city centre, beside which its two main hotels stand, epitomises Moammar el Gadaffi’s neglect of the east. Officially known as the ‘23 July lake’, foreigners an...
Vol 53 No 1 | EGYPT What lies beyond Tahrir 6th January 2012 The revolution will remain under threat from the military’s grip on political power, the best guarantee of its privileges Clashes between a military bereft of strategic vision and an ascendant Islamist majority in Parliament and on the streets will dominate politics this year. Minorities such as liber...
Vol 53 No 1 | EGYPT Subsidy cuts and crony capitalists 6th January 2012 Religious and political arguments will dominate discussion in Cairo’s cafés this year, but more mundane matters of economic policy, interest rates and taxation levels may do more t...
Vol 52 No 25 | ALGERIA Waiting for a breakthrough 16th December 2011 Islamists are manoeuvring to take centre stage in Algeria, where efforts to create a national protest movement have been stifled.
Vol 52 No 25 | MOROCCO The King’s own Islamists 16th December 2011 Morocco's Parti de la justice et du développement (PJD) formed the main opposition in the previous National Assembly and took 107 of its 395 seats in the 25 November elections, the...
Vol 52 No 23 | EGYPT Electoral alliances 18th November 2011 Egyptians set off on their democratic electoral road using a system designed bythe army and with a confusing 42 or so parties to vote for, 31 formed since January’s revolution (AC ...
Vol 52 No 22 | LIBYA The struggle for the centre 4th November 2011 The new government will have to balance regional and ideological interests and try to mop up a flood of weapons The election of Abdel Rahim el Keib as Prime Minister, with 26 of 51 votes on the National Transitional Council (NTC) on 31 October, mystified both activists and militia fighters. ...