FT on Al Ghad

The Weekend Financial Times has a long essay on Egyptian reform and the Al Ghad party in particular by Mark Leonard. It provides a nice relatively in-depth background of the situation, with profiles of Ayman Nour and his wife as well as Al Ghad president Mona Makram Ebeid and the party's foreign policy advisor, my former boss Hisham Kassem. A good read, which concludes with the very same idea we have been arguing on this site:

Rumours abound as to why he was arrested now and what the long-term consequences will be. Some note that the NDP was starting a process of dialogue with the opposition on the day of his arrest and Nur had cheekily suggested that Mubarak should represent the NDP as the other parties would be represented by their leaders. Others claim that Nur had been too outspoken at a meeting with Madeleine Albright, former US secretary of state, the week before. Many think that the arrest is an attempt to discredit the party, foment divisions among its leaders, and maybe even stop it from contesting the elections while Nur is investigated. By arresting Nur, Mubarak has thrown down a gauntlet to Bush a week after his inauguration speech. And through provocative diplomacy he has alienated the Europeans by refusing to recognise a delegation representing the EU presidency that came to express concern. Now we will see if the project for political reform in the Middle East is real or rhetorical.

Mubarak continues to trade on Egypt’s strategic significance to manage the pressure for change. By being constructive on the Iraq issues at the Sharm al-Sheikh summit this week and promising to help with Israeli disengagement from Gaza, he is buying time for his regime. A senior European diplomat concedes: “Democracy poses a double conundrum for the west. Do you want the Islamists in power with their policies on gender, pluralism, etc? Do you want to threaten Egypt’s policy towards Israel, Iraq, etc?” The big test will come next month when the British government, as president of the G8, and the Arab League are due to host a joint summit on democracy and reform - in Cairo of all places. If the summit goes ahead with the situation unresolved, what hope there was for democracy in the Arab world will be languishing with Nur in his cell.

Comments

[Anonymous]

You picked the best part of the article. The rest of it is trash. This reporter does not know Cairo well. His understanding of the contemporary political situation is elementary interpreted and conveyed to the readers.

The opening and individual sentences within the piece read like something out of "the idiot's guide to reductionism" by focusing on Cairo's often contrasting sights and sounds. - "The old streets teem with gleaming SUVs, Lexus, and BMWs engaged in a Darwinian struggle with the rusty 1960s Fiats that sport the black and white libery of the city's offical taxis" is practically a chicle when journalists from "serious" papers show up for a week to uncover outstanding Egyptian mysteries.

Other statements like "Political power is handed down from father-to-son in he middle east" is smacks of relying on the most superficial of explanations for Arab politics. Like the grandson of Prescot Bush isn't still important. A Rockefellow is a Rockefellow and a Kennedy is a Kennedy.

It is great he spoke to three al-Ghad members but he preceeds to continue to talk about al-Ghad like it did something. Potential may be overstating al-Ghad's case. The problem is that no one was looking at the internal problems Ghad had before the government attacked it. A situation that was grey within the party to black and white between the party and the government.

The fact he did not speak to anyone from the government is a joke. Instead, he trashes the government with the usual and tired fare of unhelpful comments about stagnation, lack of will, corruption rather than taking the time to portray the political game more deeply. He must do this because he is covering up his lack of contacts. It is easy to take shots at something that you don't follow up on to get a response. I disagree with nearly everything the Egyptian government does but that does not mean I will rush to every new promising party as the latest and greatest expression of coming change like so many who act like children running after candy.

This piece has a reasoable conclusion that everyone knows. Bush does not care about democracy as long as Egypt helps US interests. Aymen Nour is going to be unfairly in prison a long time because of this. This journalist understands that.

The rest of the article is one big Orientalist fastasy rump through the Egyptian capital. Because in London, Paris, and NYC these disparities of rich and poor/conservatism and liberalism aren't present?

What happened to Aymen Nour is terrible. But what is worse is some misinformed and misrepresentative journalists can express expertise over the situation by describing it in its most basic terms.

[issandr]

I also cringed when I read those parts, but frankly I thought it wasn't all that bad. All of the writers who don't live here semi-permanently write this kind of drivel -- it's the 'color' that makes these pieces readable for a general public that doesn't particularly care about Egypt. It's an unfortunately necessary (or at least customary) part of mainstream journalism (it's also why I keep a blog even though I generally get paid to write.)

In other words, I've read much worse. At least Egyptians didn't spend all their time sitting in coffeeshops puffing away at their hubbly-bubblies and drinkind endless cups of syrupy tea.

[Anonymous]

And another thing....I just spoke with a senior professor in Political Science at the American University in Cairo.

I was told - Mona Makram Ebeid is not a academic (i.e. no PhD, she went to Birbeck University in Central London to work with Sami Zubaida. She never finished).

She does not have a diploma from Harvard (i.e she is not a graduate of Harvard). She may have taught a course there, taken a class there, or attended a summer program but she is not a Harvard Grad. So either the journalist boched his research or she misrepresented her credentials.

Thirdly, she is not a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo. She teaches one class a semester -usually Egyptian politics which is not popular with students. Therefore, she should be classified as an "instructor".

As far as this reader is concerned, I could careless she is a woman or a Copt. This does nothing to signal political intent. I care even less she is a granddaughter of the
"great liberal thinker".......I think that Westerners that continue to parade this around like this provides a degree credibility or legitimacy are doing a disservice to the situation. The accident of birth does little in determining one's ability or political inclination.