My twenty years in Egypt
My first trip to Cairo was in 1992. Here are some thoughts on how it has changed
The Egyptian Angel of Darkness passes away
For the US, Omar Suleiman was ‘our man in Cairo.’ That only makes it worse
Mubarak the undead
Mubarak, Sharon, Arafat: there are new actors on the stage now and the old men have been forgotten
Mubarak dead. Revolution critical.
The regime has already demonstrated it can survive without Mubarak
What made Khaled Saeed a symbol?
All humans are imperfect but imperfect symbols don’t work: they get vilified for political purposes
Actually, in Egypt now it is Chirac vs Le Pen
Large parts of the political spectrum have no representation at all in the second round
Mubarak gets life in prison, Egypt gets nothing
Mubarak earned the sentence a hundred times over but it does not feel like justice was done
Ahmed Basiony and the cost of revolution
The protesters in Tahrir Square preached non-violence, but the Mubarak regime did not
One year on in Egypt: Art, Politics and Power
The Egyptian revolution happened in the middle of my Egypt novel and I didn’t know what to do about it
The ‘inheritance project’ and Mubarak’s last hours
The film hindi going on behind the scenes during the last days of Egypt’s First Family
Why Mubarak should not be hanged
The old man’s secrets about his odious regime are worth more to Egypt than vengeance
Into the darkness of the New York Times comments section
The central challenge for a superpower: strong views, little knowledge, limitless power to intervene
On Obama’s second big Middle East speech
There has been a revolution in the Arab world but, thus far, no revolution in American thinking
Reading the New Yorker on Islam and economic growth
The middle class everywhere competes on skills; in Egypt connections matter most. That’s the problem
Prospects for social justice and economic reform in Egypt
Why social justice in Egypt demands more economic reform — true reform, this time — not less
The Muslim Brotherhood had a monopoly. Can they compete?
Mubarak gave the Muslim Brotherhood an unnatural monopoly on opposition. Can they compete?
Triumph at last in Midan at-Tahrir
These 18 days of protests constitute the most beautiful political act I have ever witnessed