Dina Rashed, Ph.D. – Associate Dean of the College for Academic Affairs, University of Chicago

Dear Colleagues:

Before all heck broke loose on the Gaza/Israel border, I discovered an opportunity to learn about one of the foundational aspects of politics in the Middle East.

The opportunity is that Dr. Dina Rashed will be making occasional visits to Cleveland The subject is how Egypt is governed, to what effect. Egypt has the largest population in the region (more than 20 million larger than Iran or Turkey); is more than twice as large as any other country that has Arabic as an official language; shares an extensive border with Israel; and has the world’s tenth-largest military. It was at the heart of mid-20th-century Arab nationalism and the controversy with Israel during that era. The 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt won the Nobel Peace Prize for its signers, Egypt’s Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Menachem Begin and transformed the Arab/Israeli conflict (whatever you may think of the result). The 2011 “Arab Spring” began in Tunisia and failed in bloodiest fashion in Syria, but surely the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earned the most international attention, seemed the most dramatic change, and I would argue led to the most dramatic reversal of fortune.

That occurred on July 3, 2013, when General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coup that deposed President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood – led government. Sisi became President on June 8, 2014, and it seems fair to say that his government has attracted a barrage of criticism. By some accounts it has been ambitious but ultimately is doomed. By another, the regime has created an illusion of stability, undermined by “economic frustration and a loss of dignity.” Or Sisi is “driving Egypt off a cliff” by “systematically destroying the capacity of Egyptian civil society to sustain any shred of political life.” Or economic mismanagement and excessive, “Pharaonic” spending means “Egypt must increasingly rely on foreign credit for economic survival,” while the “military’s gobbling up… numerous profitable private enterprises.”

The latter criticism might be interpreted as explaining why the regime survives: that it is based largely on the support of Egypt’s large military. But the relationship between Egypt’s politics and the military is actually lengthy and complicated. Al Jazeera has reported that the military’s right to intervene is part of the 2019 constitution, and el-Sisi has bought support with a range of economic privileges. But he also has been able to replace many leaders and discourage internal opposition.

The security of el-Sisi’s base in the military therefore is one of the basic questions about Middle-Eastern politics. We’re more likely to understand that if we know about the history of the relationship between civil and military powers in Egypt. That begins with the fact that, as Dina Rashed wrote in 2016, military men have normally held the nation’s presidency. It requires an appreciation of the interests of the officer corps as its members perceive that – which surely involves some dimensions of status, respect and economic well-being – and political tensions within the military. It involves the relationships among the mainline military, intelligence services, and domestic police services. In the early Sisi years it involved the military “winning the major construction projects financed by the wealthy Gulf states” and the regime using “ultranationalist rhetoric” that “has glorified the military as the guardian of the nation and supporter of the nation’s will.”

How has the situation changed since she assessed it in 2016? What might the future of Egypt hold? As I mentioned above, criticism is ubiquitous – but are predictions of regime instability wise, or wishful thinking?

Please join us for what should be a particularly interesting discussion.

In-Person and Virtual Attendance

In order to make it easy for people to protect themselves and still participate, the meetings can be attended on Zoom. Participants can register for each meeting in the same way they did for the past two years. The link is posted below.

The discussion begins at 12:30 p.m., but the room should be open no later than Noon. We try to have beverages and refreshments set up soon after that. Participants should be able to sign on to Zoom also by Noon. But please remember not much will be happening online until the talk begins at 12:30 pm. Please also be prepared to show identification when entering Kelvin Smith Library.

Zoom participants should speak up when asked for questions or comments, or submit thoughts through Zoom’s chat function. Please keep yourself muted until you are choosing to speak.

I apologize to those participants who got stuck waiting on November 17 that were entirely my fault. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. It should not happen again.

Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. When you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. If you do not get the newsletter, you should also be able to get the information each Monday by checking http://fridaylunch.case.edu Then if you choose you can use the contact form on that website to request the registration link.

This week’s Zoom link for registration is:

https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsc-CtrTwjH9VMiSIhM8pM760Aqn93Nk2c

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Please also e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about arrangements or any suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.

Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,

Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Dina Rashed Ph.D. earned her B.Sc. in Political Science from Cairo University, M.A. in International Studies from DePaul University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her research specializes in civil-military relations, state-society dynamics, and Middle East Politics. She probes how domestic and foreign factors influence patterns and structures of power among presidencies, militaries, and police forces. This work draws upon experiences of political development in Egypt and other nations of the Global South. She is currently working on a project investigating Women in Uniform in North Africa with the European Institute of the Mediterranean.

Dr Rashed serves as Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of the University of Chicago. She is also a non-resident Scholar with the Middle East Institute, and President of the Board of the Egyptian American Society of Chicago. In addition to academic articles and book chapters, her commentary has been featured in media outlets including the Washington Post and Foreign Policy.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

December 8: Climate Change: What Are Our Options? With Philip L. Taylor, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor and Perkins Professor of Physics Emeritus.