Global attention has been focused on Syria in the past few weeks, but the most influential country in the Arab world—and historically the one whose political developments tend to be echoed in neighboring countries—remains Egypt.
And Egypt is, essentially, being redesigned. The new Egypt could end up looking a lot like the one that existed before the 2011 uprisings. It could also still become something closer to what the pro-democracy revolutionaries aspired to. But it could turn into something entirely different. How Egypt’s story turns out will be greatly influenced by this, the third chapter of the tumultuous era that started 30 months ago.
The first chapter came with the 2011 revolution that successfully brought an end to the 30-year rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. Chapter 2 saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, with Mohammed Morsi, a Brotherhood stalwart and Egypt’s first elected president, ruling over an increasingly disillusioned population amid growing chaos, sectarian tensions and economic disarray. That phase ended on July 3, when Morsi was forcibly removed from power by the military with strong popular support, giving way to the present phase, a post-Brotherhood period dominated by the armed forces and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.