Analysts are eager to gauge Sissi’s convictions as a potential factor in determining whether Egypt follows an Algerian, Pakistani or Turkish model of civil-military relations. “This view of Sissi as an Islamist may prove accurate, because little is known of the sunglass-sporting general who is now Egypt’s de facto leader,” says Eric Trager, the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “But after thoroughly examining Sissi’s paper — which you can download here – I found little evidence of Islamism,” he writes for Foreign Policy. “If anything, the paper reflects the boilerplate, nationalistic rhetoric of Mubarak-era Egyptian officials — not the theocratic rhetoric of the Muslim Brotherhood.” It’s the culture, stupid? “Sissi falls back on the Mubarak-era pabulum that Middle Easterners are just not ready for democracy,” says Trager: “Changing a political culture is always hard,” he writes. “It is one thing to say that a democracy is a preferred form of government, but quite another to adjust to its requirements and accept some of the risks that go along with it.” - See more at: demdigest.net/blog/2013/08/egypts-sissi-closet-islamist-or-feloul/#sthash.AlcVo7Un.dpuf
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 21:16:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015