Anwar Sadat presided over a remarkable transformation in the Egypt built by Nasir: economic liberalisation superseded populist revolution from above, a Western alliance replaced Nasir??'s challenge to Western power in the Arab world and an authoritarian state was adapted to growing pluralist pressures. This book explains the forces which produced this change: the vulnerabilities of the Nasir regime and Sadat??'s leadership. It also analyses the ???post-popuhst??? political order forged by Sadat, concluding that the state underwent both a retraditionalisation and limited liberalisation while retaining its authoritarian essence. Sadat??'s policies ended in peace and a burst of prosperity for some, but at the cost of growing inequality and dependency. This book is of interest as a study of political change and the clash of competing strategies of development in today??'s Third World. Because the system Sadat built remains intact under Mubarak, it is also a guide to the workings of the contemporary Egyptian political system.

Anwar Sadat presided over a remarkable transformation in the Egypt built by Nasir: economic liberalisation superseded populist revolution from above, a Western alliance replaced Nasir's challenge to Western power in the Arab world and an authoritarian state was adapted to growing pluralist pressures. This book explains the forces which produced this change: the vulnerabilities of the Nasir regime and Sadat's leadership. It also analyses the 'post-populist' political order forged by Sadat, concluding that the state underwent both a retraditionalisation and limited liberalisation while retaining its authoritarian essence. Sadat's policies ended in peace and a burst of prosperity for some, but at the cost of growing inequality and dependency. This book is of interest as a study of political change and the clash of competing strategies of development in today's Third World. Because the system Sadat built remains intact under Mubarak, it is also a guide to the workings of the contemporary Egyptian political system.

Explains the forces that produced the remarkable transformation in Egypt after Nasir's death and analyzes its outcome.

The recent revolution in Egypt has shaken the Arab world to its roots. The most populous Arab country and the historical center of Arab intellectual life, Egypt is a lynchpin of the US's Middle East strategy, receiving more aid than any nation except Israel. This is not the first time that the world and has turned its gaze to Egypt, however. A half century ago, Egypt under Nasser became the putative leader of the Arab world and a beacon for all developing nations. Yet in the decades prior to the 2011 revolution, it was ruled over by a sclerotic regime plagued by nepotism and corruption. During that time, its economy declined into near shambles, a severely overpopulated Cairo fell into disrepair, and it produced scores of violent Islamic extremists such as Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atta. In this new and updated paperback edition of The Struggle for Egypt, Steven Cook--a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations--explains how this parlous state of affairs came to be, why the revolution occurred, and where Egypt is headed now. A sweeping account of Egypt in the modern era, it incisively chronicles all of the nation's central historical episodes: the decline of British rule, the rise of Nasser and his quest to become a pan-Arab leader, Egypt's decision to make peace with Israel and ally with the United States, the assassination of Sadat, the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and--finally--the demonstrations that convulsed Tahrir Square and overthrew an entrenched regime. And for the paperback edition, Cook has updated the book to include coverage of the recent political events in Egypt, including the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as President. Throughout Egypt's history, there has been an intense debate to define what Egypt is, what it stands for, and its relation to the world. Egyptians now have an opportunity to finally answer these questions. Doing so in a way that appeals to the vast majority of Egyptians, Cook notes, will be difficult but ultimately necessary if Egypt is to become an economically dynamic and politically vibrant society.

In this compelling study, Baker recreates the public worlds of eight groups on the periphery of Egyptian politics. They range in their political stances from Communists to the Muslim Brothers and include shifting clusters of critical intellectuals who gather around influential journals or in research centers, as well as the quiescent aestheticists of the Wissa Wassef community. Taken together, the experiences of Egyptians in alternative groups reveal that Egyptians are more than the objects of diverse external pressures and more than the sufferers from multiple internal problems. They are also creative political actors who have stories to tell about the human potential to struggle for humane values and goals in the modern world.