Carnegie Moscow Center
The Egyptian regime’s economic strategy guarantees that any emerging demands for democratization will clash with international interests.
The Egyptian government’s fiscal and economic policies are accelerating the transfer of wealth from lower and middle classes to itself and business elites, with likely devastating consequences.
In the response to the pandemic, Sisi’s security dominated government has focused on spreading misinformation, propaganda, and repression rather than addressing the health crisis.
Structural shortcomings in Egypt’s health care system, labor market, and economic and social policies curtail the government’s efforts to address a viral outbreak.
Egypt's penal system, defined by severe punishment and pre-trial abuses, impacts the state’s legitimacy, the rise of radicalization, and prospects for a transition.
Sisi prioritizes large-scale infrastructure projects to galvanize support, but these projects deepen the military’s hold over the economy and provide no tangible broad economic benefit.
Backlash against capital punishment in Egypt has reduced the number of executions but led security forces to increase their use of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
Proposed amendments to Egypt’s constitution will enshrine the military’s position above the state by giving it greater legal means to intervene against elected governments and prosecute political opponents.
In addition to escalating tensions with Italy, Egypt’s response to the murder case of Giulio Regeni shows how the security services rely on torture as the primary tool of repression.
Egypt’s current attempt to reduce public debt through austerity measures ignores the problem’s roots in uncontrolled military spending.