Post-revolution polls in Egypt

ANTPogo said:
Despite being the only actual Muslim theocracy in the Middle East,
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Saudi Arania isn't a theocracy?

ANTPogo said:
Iran has still managed to put together a surprisingly sophisticated technological infrastructure.
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What infrastructure does Iran have in place for privae sector growth? They just take their oil money and spend it on the military while the people live by and large in poverty and suppressed by the state.

Egypt has no large oil income to depend on, they need to provide a stable base for private sector growth. They've already scared most of the tourists away. Good luck getting foreign investment when their policies are guaranteed to stir up religious and ethnic strife.
 
WildCat said:
Saudi Arania isn't a theocracy?


What infrastructure does Iran have in place for privae sector growth? They just take their oil money and spend it on the military while the people live by and large in poverty and suppressed by the state.

Egypt has no large oil income to depend on, they need to provide a stable base for private sector growth. They've already scared most of the tourists away. Good luck getting foreign investment when their policies are guaranteed to stir up religious and ethnic strife.
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Failed statehood, here they come.
 
WildCat said:
Saudi Arania isn't a theocracy?


What infrastructure does Iran have in place for privae sector growth? They just take their oil money and spend it on the military while the people live by and large in poverty and suppressed by the state.

Egypt has no large oil income to depend on, they need to provide a stable base for private sector growth. They've already scared most of the tourists away. Good luck getting foreign investment when their policies are guaranteed to stir up religious and ethnic strife.
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I've watched a very interesting slideshow at a friends house.
He travelled through Iran, Pakistan and India.

The contrast between Iran and Pakistan is just insane.

Iran: good highways, new tunnels that look like you're in Switzerland, ancient mosques and cultural heritage well preserved and cared for etc etc.

Pakistan: long story short: my idea of hell but with crappier infrastructure.

Whilst I think that Iran is being held back A LOT by the nutty old men running it, it has a lot of good fundamentals in terms of educated population, work ethic etc.
 
Eddie Dane said:
I've watched a very interesting slideshow at a friends house.
He travelled through Iran, Pakistan and India.

The contrast between Iran and Pakistan is just insane.

Iran: good highways, new tunnels that look like you're in Switzerland, ancient mosques and cultural heritage well preserved and cared for etc etc.

Pakistan: long story short: my idea of hell but with crappier infrastructure.

Whilst I think that Iran is being held back A LOT by the nutty old men running it, it has a lot of good fundamentals in terms of educated population, work ethic etc.
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Iran has oil, Pakistan does not.

Egypt has no significant oil.

A theocratic Egypt will look much more like Pakistan than Iran, only with even more religious strife given the mix of Muslims and Christians.
 
WildCat said:
Saudi Arania isn't a theocracy?
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The royal family still has quite a bit of control there. I don't consider them a theocracy in the same way Iran is, where the clerics exert direct sovereign control.

What infrastructure does Iran have in place for privae sector growth? They just take their oil money and spend it on the military while the people live by and large in poverty and suppressed by the state.
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Iran has devoted quite a few resources to building a high-tech infrastructure.

Egypt has no large oil income to depend on, they need to provide a stable base for private sector growth. They've already scared most of the tourists away. Good luck getting foreign investment when their policies are guaranteed to stir up religious and ethnic strife.
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This, however, is completely true.
 
WildCat said:
Iran has oil, Pakistan does not.

Egypt has no significant oil.

A theocratic Egypt will look much more like Pakistan than Iran, only with even more religious strife given the mix of Muslims and Christians.
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I share your pessimism about Egypt.
The fundamentals suck, as I summed up above.

Let's hope they don't go all kooky and start some excrement with Israel.
 
I just finished training our latest hire, an Egyptian with a work visa. His pessimism about the short term prospects for Egypt had my jaw hanging- and I was already pessimistic.
 
Egypt is three meals away from anarchy. I think they'll probably do what North Korea does. Threaten to starve if the rich countries don't cough up.
 
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Virus said:
Egypt is three meals away from anarchy. I think they'll probably do what North Korea does. Threaten to starve if the rich countries don't cough up.
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They better get crackin' on that nuke program then.
Actual blackmail is so much more effective then emotional blackmail.

I know, I'm married.
 
Eddie Dane said:
They better get crackin' on that nuke program then.
Actual blackmail is so much more effective then emotional blackmail.

I know, I'm married.
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They could sponsor terrorists and invite Hamas to set up headquarters in Cairo.
 
Egypt's Morsi grants himself far-reaching powers

CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's Islamist president unilaterally decreed greater authorities for himself Thursday and effectively neutralized a judicial system that had emerged as a key opponent by declaring that the courts are barred from challenging his decisions.

Riding high on U.S. and international praise for mediating a Gaza cease-fire, Mohammed Morsi put himself above oversight and gave protection to the Islamist-led assembly writing a new constitution from a looming threat of dissolution by court order.

. . .

Morsi framed his decisions as necessary to protect the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago and to cement the nation's transition to democratic rule. Many activists, including opponents of the Brotherhood, criticize the judiciary as packed with judges and prosecutors sympathetic to Mubarak. Brotherhood supporters accuse the courts of trying to block their agenda.

"He had to act to save the country and protect the course of the revolution," said one of Morsi's aides, Pakinam al-Sharqawi, speaking on Al-Jazeera. "It is a major stage in the process of completing the January 25th revolution," she said, alluding to the starting day of last year's uprising against Mubarak.

In a nod to revolutionary sentiment, Morsi also ordered the retrial of Mubarak and top aides on charges of killing protesters during the uprising. He also created a new "protection of the revolution" judicial body to swiftly carry out the prosecutions. But he did not order retrials for lower-level police acquitted of such killings, another widespread popular demand that would disillusion the security forces if carried out.
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In addition to the offices of the Freedom and Justice Party (the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm) being burned in Suez, Ismailia and Port Said as reported in the links above, the BBC is reporting that protesters stormed and set fire to the FJP office in Alexandria, the city where my relatives live. They also report on more protests and clashes in other cities in Egypt.
 
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The problem with the Supreme Court is that they are all Mubarak appointees. Further, they showed their hostility to democracy when they dissolved the elected parliament. And when they disqualified some candidates for president. Egypt needs a judiciary with some kind of legitimacy.
 
Puppycow said:
The problem with the Supreme Court is that they are all Mubarak appointees. Further, they showed their hostility to democracy when they dissolved the elected parliament. And when they disqualified some candidates for president. Egypt needs a judiciary with some kind of legitimacy.
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Basically, yes. This isn't an autocrat trying to dismantle a democratic institution. It's one autocrat trying to displace the lackeys of the previous autocrat.

And apparently, the judiciary's having none of it, with even some judges and prosecutors joining the street protests against Morsi. The Brotherhood is calling for a mass protest in support of Morsi for this Tuesday, while Tahrir Square is still occupied by anti-Morsi protesters.
 
Morsi might have felt his role in the IP crisis generated enough political capitol for a chance to consolidate his position.
 
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