The photograph is the image of desolation. In a room that seems to have been devastated by a hurricane, shattered windows and furniture, debris everywhere, and a few torn and winding curtains that remain as mute witnesses to the disaster, a man sitting on his bedroom bed smokes a pipe while listening to a record.

US president Donald J. Trump’s vow to defeat what he terms radical Islamic terrorism forces the United States to maneuver the Middle East and North Africa’s murky world of ever shifting alliances and labyrinth of power struggles within power struggles.

The 18th century English writer, Alexander Pope, once said: “a little learning is a dangerous thing.” Much has changed in the 300 years since then, but our propensity to make decisions based on hunches and incomplete information has not.

I will reach you in just a few minutes,” a driver of one of the new transportation application companies told me recently—which concluded in my being picked up half an hour later. The dilemma of such applications is that most of the drivers don’t take into account the fact that the application technology determines their locations and the time required to reach their customers. The Uber and Careem applications transmit to customers a transparent image of what is happening behind the scenes within their companies, thus highlighting the deficiencies inherent in Egyptian work attitudes.

The recent spate of terrorist attacks on Copts in Sinai did not come as a surprise to those who have followed terrorist activities there during the last two years and who perceive the roots of the extremist groups that operate there.

Egypt now needs political liberalism, since social conditions, public opinion awareness and the complexification of its infrastructure call for it. And yet there is no serious prospect for a new try. There is more than a grain of truth in this. Nevertheless, like all sharp dichotomies, it rests on some exaggeration. Political liberalism, at its Egyptian birth, provided some great landowners and some new professions (lawyers, for example) with weapons targeting both khedivial autocracy and backwardness.

In the war against terrorism, it’s not just government agencies and military personnel who are on the front lines. Bankers can also play an important role in fighting terrorism. That’s because terrorism needs money to survive and thrive. Although terrorists are increasingly using alternative financial methods, the banking system continues to be the most reliable and efficient way to move funds internationally. Vigilant banks can hit terrorists where it hurts by preventing them from using the financial system to fund their operations.

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?