Common wisdom has it that ultimately failed or troubled popular revolts in 2011 in the Middle East and North Africa have sparked bloody civil wars and violent extremism, and given autocracy a new lease on life. Indeed, there is no denying that a brutal civil war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands and dislocated millions. Iraq, like Syria, is seeking to defeat the Islamic State (IS), the most vicious jihadist movement in recent history. Sectarianism and religious supremacism are ripping apart the fabric of societies in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.

A few days ago, the London-based Economist published a story on improvements in the Egyptian economy resulting from recent government decisions and the IMF deal. The venerable economics magazine saw the growth in demand on government bonds by foreign investors, increased remittances from Egyptians working abroad, a bump in exports, and higher dollar reserves with the Central Bank as signs of improvement.

The current policies have wasted LE130 billion until now, in pouring reinforced concrete everywhere, and when the fatal effects of this defect started to show on the national economy, as had been expected by everyone who has some insight and a sound mind, they started telling us with enviable confidence about «our poverty». They then started transfering this notion to the people through the paid media mouthpieces, those with pockets stiffened with thousands of pounds, and others eager for government positions, and orphans of the Mubarak regime who offered their services in fawning and hypocrisy to the new authority.

Controversy and uncertainty over the possible appointment of a Pakistani general as commander of a 40-nation, Saudi-led, anti-Iranian military alliance dubbed the Muslim world’s NATO goes to the core of a struggle for Pakistan’s soul as the country reels from a week of stepped up political violence.

On 8 March 1857, thousands of women went out to protest on the streets of New York against the inhumane conditions under which they were forced to work. Even though police intervened to disperse the protests, it still managed to make officials to look into the problems of working women.

The House of Representatives, under our constitution, has two primary tasks: legislating and government oversight. That’s not new— it follows all previous constitutions. But to bolster the independence and sovereignty of the parliament, the new 2014 constitution required its approval of the Cabinet appointments and endorsement of the government’s program.

In the time of the Muslim Brotherhood, I met with one of their leaders, who was the secretary general of the Pharmacists Syndicate in one of the governorates adjacent to the capital. I asked him about the reasons for their aggression against the media and the disputes with the judiciary, the police, and the army from the side of the brotherhood and the institution of the presidency—and why the disputes have become irresolvable. His answer was surprising. He said that he was working with Mohamed Al-Beltagy’s group and that they had been working through individual initiatives to solve disputes; however, El-Shater’s group destroyed what they were doing for the sole sake of shrinking the role of Al-Beltagy’s group.

Empowering women and girls is the only way to protect their rights and make sure they can realize their full potential. Historic imbalances in power relations between men and women, exacerbated by growing inequalities within and between societies and countries, are leading to greater discrimination against women and girls. Around the world, tradition, cultural values and religion are being misused to curtail women’s rights, to entrench sexism and defend misogynistic practices.

We continue to present a series of articles that shed light on the positive aspects of the American experience and how it can be employed to achieve real positive changes in the main challenges Egypt faces. This series may be beneficial for decision-makers and those interested in the Egyptian public affairs. It is based on the pieces written by a participant of the “International Visitor” programme in the US with the aim of getting closely acquainted with some aspects regarding the administration of the federal, state, and county authorities.

In the democratic world on the other hand, citizens are not afraid of the government, the police or clergy; instead, all executive powers work to satisfy citizens, who are payers of taxes and voters. In that free world there are no taboos that should not be discussed. Everything is discussable; so minds open up, and everybody heads towards the future, while in the foggy worlds, lots of elements work together to make us return to the past—when liberation from fear becomes a dream, you can be sure that we are walking backwards.

It’s no wonder the terrorist attacks on Christian families in Sinai last week sparked such anger and so much sympathy and solidarity with the victims of sectarian violence.

Today Egyptians are talking about nothing but the displacement enforced on a number of Coptic families in Arish. After a flurry of killings, dozens of Coptic families decided it was time to leave northern Sinai and head west across the Suez Canal to a safer environment. Terrorists in the area have sworn they won't leave any Copt in peace, and soon afterwards they stepped up their attacks on innocent civilians.

After the 25 January Revolution and Mubarak’s departure, US President Barack Obama declared there are rare moments in our lives when we can watch history in the making. The Egyptian revolution is one of these moments, he said. The British newspaper The Guardian wrote at the time that the Egyptian revolution is the greatest in the history of humanity — even surpassing the French and American revolutions.

I do not know a logical reason that would require the government to seek the ruling of Al-Azhar in a case related to organizing the transactions between members of the society in a way that preserves the right of each party. Documenting transactions in communities does not need a religious edict, and issues of developing and modernizing communities and countries do not need a religious edict. When we assert the need to document divorce, we are simply organizing what is already legal and Islamic. So what is the need for Al-Azhar in an issue that is at the core of the work and functions of the State?

Mr. President, I write you these words.. I do not know for sure whether or not my message will reach you. I do wish that you will receive it by any means, whether through your office manager or a presidential staff officer, or any other person who is allowed to meet you personally and whose words you trust. Perhaps one of those will read my words, and perhaps my words, unheeded, will go down the drain. I have written many words, feeling like I was talking to myself in the barren desert, with no answer but the echo of my voice.

For Gwadar to become truly viable, Pakistan will have to not only address Baluch grievances that have prompted militancy and calls for greater self-rule, if not independence, but also ensure that Baluchistan does not become a playground in the bitter struggle for regional hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

A Saudi decision to license within weeks the kingdom’s first women-only gyms constitutes progress in a country in which women’s rights are severely curtailed. It also lays bare the limitations of Deputy Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s plan for social and economic reforms that would rationalise and diversify the kingdom’s economy. Restrictions on what activities the gyms will be allowed to offer reflects the power of an ultra-conservative religious establishment and segment of society critical of the long overdue reforms that became inevitable as a result of sharply reduced oil revenues and the need to enhance Saudi competitiveness in a 21st century knowledge-driven global economy.

While in Dostoyevsky’s famous novel, the criminal returns to the crime scene, the recent law of banditry and new settlement crimes passed by the Israeli Knesset has the criminal repeating his crime without realising he is thus uncovering his original crime committed in 1948, which he has deceived the world about for years when he robbed the Palestinians of their land after expelling most of them, destroying 400 Palestinian villages and intentionally Judaicising their towns such as Safad, Haifa and Akka.

In 1964, the magazine Fact published the article “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A Special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater.” The article included the results of a poll among psychiatrists questioning them if then senator Barry Goldwater was fit to be president. Of the 2,147 who responded, 657 said that he was fit and 1,189 said that he was not. In addition to the responses to the question about Goldwater, the article included a series of quotations from the respondents, various facts, and observations about Goldwater. Goldwater sued the editor and publisher of the magazine, Ralph Ginzburg, who had edited some of the quotations from articles and even from some of the psychiatrists interviewed. Goldwater sued him and won $75,000 in damages, since the judge found that Ginzburg had acted with malicious intent.

In recent weeks, I’ve had the chance to meet several foreign investors who have come to Egypt seeking to understand the economic landscape and size up available opportunities.

With the beginning of US President Donald Trump's term, it seems that the world is on the threshold of a new stage of globalisation in which compulsory integration is receding in some states and societies within a global economic order that first serves the interests of capitalist countries at the expense of the entire world's peoples.