Egypt Institute Journal (Vol. 4 – Issue 16)
Introduction
Issue No.16 of the Egypt Institute Journal, published in October 2019, included a number of political, strategic, economic, intellectual and legal articles, as follows:
1- ‘Euro-Mediterranean Partnership – Contexts and Tracks’, by Dr. Lamia Haroush (Algeria)
The European Union has introduced the concept of partnership in its relationship with the Mediterranean countries because of the strategic importance of the Mediterranean. This significance is based on a deep civilizational dimension, a large human bloc and important natural resources that have brought the region back to international attention. The European Union developed its new Mediterranean policy in 1989/1990, adopting a Redirected Mediterranean Policy (RMP) according to a European Commission proposal. The paper suggests that the Euro-Mediterranean project is a product of the mixing of globalization and regionalism.
2- Conflict of Wills: Local and International Intersections in the Mobilization of Algeria, Jalal Khushaib (Algeria)
This paper attempts to draw a “comprehensive picture” that enables the reader to understand what has happened and is still happening in Algeria within a broader framework that links the active internal and external factors in this mobilization between the past and the present, that is, it will draw an idea of the logic that drives the active forces within the Algerian political system, or what David Easton calls “the black box”, and the intersections of this logic with the logic that drives the competing major powers in the structure of the international system concerned with the status quo in Algeria and determines their interests in the country. The paper attempts to understand the societal causes behind the decades-old democrat deficit in Algeria and the reasons behind the Algerian people’s massive, peaceful mobilization that was surprising to neighbors and the whole world at large.
The paper attempts to explore the (structural and non-structural) factors that stand behind what is currently happening in Algeria and which factors are more important and central in determining the course of this mobilization and the future of the country.
3- ‘Maps of Informality in Egypt as a Style of Living’, by Tamer Mowafy (Egypt)
The study seeks to provide a theoretical structure through which “Informality” can be understood as a mode of living similar to that prevailing in our modern societies. The paper introduces a definition of this phenomenon lifestyle as “the style of directing the social practices of the self and of others”, and examines the validity of this definition through two approaches: using Michel Foucault’s concepts of conduct and the two powers, i.e. the disciplinary power and bio-power in the first; and Pierre Purdue’s concepts of capital, field, and habitus in the second.
4- ‘Social Repercussions of the Phenomenon of Rising Prices in Egypt’, by Dr. Manal Talaat (Egypt)
The study is based on the assumption that the rising prices in Egypt have become a complex multifaceted phenomenon, characterized by inability of a certain category of Egyptian people to meet the minimum levels of basic needs, in addition to inability of different capacities to participate in development processes and reap its benefits.
Unemployment, poverty, terrorism, corruption, and others have become some of the most prominent diseases of the current time, and all competent authorities such as academia, media, experts and those concerned have become aware of the significance of addressing these problems and monitoring the consequences resulting from such phenomenon. Economic crises have serious consequences in society, given that the phenomenon of rising prices has been accompanied by an increase in armed robberies on banks and increased robberies in general, as well as begging, violence and killings to meet various needs. According to the paper, poverty, citizenship, social exclusion, crime, and domestic violence are among the key repercussions of the rising prices in Egypt.
5- Jurisprudence of the Difference: between Legitimacy and Prevention, by Dr. Magdy Shalash (Egypt)
The article states that although unity is a great blessing, yet it is based on interaction of opinions and ideas. The views and opinions of the Companions (May Allah be pleased with them) used to differ in major crises and political calamities, but they later agree on one opinion; in fact, unity of views cannot be achieved without respecting different opinions first and then respecting the decision in the second place.
The paper attempts to answer the following questions:
– What is the concept of difference? What is the difference between difference and disagreement?
– Is difference only one type that is, or is it divided into several types, including the and the reprehensible types?
– What is the ideological difference? What are its causes and how to deal with it when it occurs?
– When can the political disagreement be commendable and when is it considered reprehensible and what are its governing rules?
– When is juristic disagreement considered legitimate and what are its causes and its etiquette?
– What is the Sharia position on jurisprudence schools and how to deal with them?
– Does racial and color differences affect the unity of the nation and the construction of its civilization, or a destructive element?
6- ‘Evaluation of the Egyptian Program for the Treatment of the C-Virus’, by Amgad Hamdi (Egypt)
The study seeks to examine and evaluate the regime’s policies in dealing with the problem of treatment of C-Virus through analyzing the Egyptian experience in that regard, within the framework of the political context that Egypt is going through. The study attempts to answer the question: To what extent have health programs and policies in Egypt contributed to eliminating the C-virus and to what extent have these policies been characterized by efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with this problem?
7- ‘Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (2011-2016): Shifts and Problems’, by Yasser Fathi (Egypt)
This study attempts to address the interaction of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt with the mobilization of the Egyptian revolution since January 2011 – calling for changing the Mubarak regime – until January 2016 – when the Muslim Brotherhood split was announced by the media. The study combines description and reporting in attempt to provide explanations and analyses based on facts, interviews, and views from sources calculated on the Brotherhood.
The study does not focus on details of the political events that have occurred since January 25, 2011, but rather focuses on the general line of events and attempts to understand the Brotherhood’s organizational behavior. The paper does not address evaluation of President Morsi’s one year in power or any of other political forces and currents. The study attempts to understand the Brotherhood behavior through sources from within the group.
8- ‘Jihad Strategies to Abu Musab al-Suri’, Urabi Abdel-Hay (Egypt)
This study attempts to shed light on “Abu Musab Al-Suri”, one of the most prominent theorists of the jihadist movement in the Islamic world, in addition to a brief account of his personal life, monitoring his intellectual output, and analyzing his theories in support of “jihad” and developing it in his book, “Calling the International Islamic Resistance” by creating a hybrid model from resistance and structural organization methods and new methods and less hierarchical organizations. The study adopts the descriptive and analytical methodology based on two determinants: the first is observation of the reality in which the intellectual and “strategic experiences of “Abu Musab al-Suri” were formed; and then analyzing his intellectual achievement and theories of resistance in light of the experiences available to him and the influences that formulated them.
9- ‘Western Alternatives to Confronting Islamic Jihadist Movements’, by Alaa Adel (Egypt)
The study assumes that there are two main western theories to deal with Islam and Muslims; the first: the theory of “all are similar”, warning against the use of any Islamic component in the war of the so-called “terrorism”; and the other: the theory “they are not the same”, advising to find alternatives to counter jihadist ideology. In contrast to the Western alternatives, there is a counter-alternative, that is the merging of al-Qaeda and Islamic State organizational grassroots, which is the most dangerous scenario for Western researchers, although the chances of setting jihadi-jihadi disputes aside remain virtually too few.
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