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Egypt

Three Things I Learned in Cairo Today

By experts and staff

Published
  • Steven A. CookCFR Expert
    Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies

Protesters pray in Tahrir Square during a protest against the ruling military council’s handling of the post-revolt phase in the centre of Cairo (Amr Dalsh/Courtesy Reuters)

Another busy day in Egypt. JT and I managed to convince an Egyptian to meet us for breakfast at 8:15 —an achievement—and we just finished our last meeting at 1:00am. We learned a lot, but here are some of the more interesting things I learned today:

I know this is anecdotal—a little too close to taxi driver research for my comfort—but this guy’s story seemed important if only because he was a committed MB activist from the time he was in his mid-teens and freely admitted that he “owed much to the organization.” Once more, the emergence of the Egypt’s Current seems to be a function of similar sentiments, if not precisely the same experience. I am told that the young MBs who have established this party believe that they did not participate in a revolution to bring down a dictatorship only to submit to the authoritarian nature of the Brotherhood’s leadership. They too want to explore coalitions and partnership with folks across Egypt’s broadening political spectrum.

That’s all for now…