Ten days ago, US President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union (SOTU) address. Last year, he had spoken before the US Congress, in a joint session, a few weeks after being sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States. On 1 February, he tweeted that his first SOTU was delivered “from the heart”, thanking the 45 million Americans who watched him, saying it was a record number.

Arab political thinking seems to always turn to “boycott” as though it were a constructive concept that can resolves things in our favour because it supposedly pulls the rug out from beneath our opponents or those standing in the way of our interests. The “rug”, here, is “legitimacy”. Illegitimate groups think they hold the key to it if they do the rug-pulling in order to turn the tables in their favour. The concept was displayed in its full glory when groups from the Egyptian opposition gathered together to declare a boycott against the Egyptian presidential elections. It is their way of protesting what they claim to be restrictions on the electoral process. They called on the Egyptian people to follow suit and not to turn out on voting day.

One of the least-talked about questions is the coordination and cooperation between Israel and Russia in dealing with regional developments in the Middle East and how far this cooperation has gone in defending Israel s security interests, particularly, against an expansionist Iran. With the Syrian government winning the war against terrorism and the armed groups which rose to overthrow Al-Assad s regime, Israel has warned against a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria. It has also raised alarm bells in relation with continuing Iranian support for Lebanon s Hezbollah. Israeli security officials have been talking lately of Iran helping in the construction of an underground missile factory in Lebanon.

Do you want to make your city the most livable place in the world, or as good as? It can be done but it requires hard work and an understanding of how to prevent disasters and avoid planning mistakes which will only bring misery in the future. If we are to leave no one behind in the race for sustainable development, we need to get ready for an uncertain future as the numbers of people living in urban centres surge towards 6.4 billion by 2050 when climate change is likely to have an even more significant impact on urban life.

Donald Trump, as a presidential candidate, never promised compromise. He instead promised the opposite: reform through sheer force of will. "Nobody knows the system better than me," said Trump when accepting the Republican nomination, "which is why I alone can fix it." The trouble with such a self-centered approach? It is contrary to the Constitution. Indeed, it is our nation s powerful legal framework that explains so much of what President Trump has accomplished, and failed to accomplish, during his first year in office. This framework sustains a system of government that resists unilateral action and rejects singular efforts to consolidate power.

In recent days, the Wafd Party has been under great pressure to change its position at the last minute to push forward a candidate for the presidential elections against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after the party already announced its support for him. The Wafd, like the Tagammu Party, has supported the president in a rational way because they issued statements confirming their demands for political reforms, allowing parties arrange events at their headquarters, and open up public discussion about freedoms and human rights. Therefore, it was no longer thinkable or acceptable that the Wafd would change its position and make an announcement to enter a nominal competition against the president. The party should keep its dignity and respect for itself, especially as the announcement to participate in the election was not seen as convincing for anyone at home or abroad. It merely gave the world press a fresh reason to mock and ridicule someone who supports the president, while at the same time running against him in political elections.

On January 20 2018, Turkish forces invaded Syrian territories in a military operation dubbed Olive Branch. The aim has been to clear Afrin from Kurdish “terrorists”—and Ankara vowed to continue its drive inside Syria to the Iraqi-Syrian borders to the east, to drive out all the Kurds from this vast stretch of territory. In so doing, the Turkish government asked the United States to withdraw any American forces that could be stationed along its advance. To this, the Pentagon commented that it understands Turkish concerns and would be ready to discuss with the Turks the establishment of a “safe zone” along the Turkish-Syrian borders. The Turkish government replied that trust should be restored between Washington and Ankara before discussing such a proposal. In the meantime, and while the Turkish forces were advancing through Syrian territory from west to east with insurgents from the so-called Free Syrian Army, no Arab government, nor the League of Arab States have condemned the Turkish military invasion of a sovereign Arab country. So far, not a single Arab country has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss such a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter.

Strong regional and global integration have been central to countries rapid growth and reduced poverty. Few economic sectors can better illustrate integration s potential benefits—and its significant risks—than the banking sector. The period prior to the 2008 global financial crisis was characterised by a significant increase in financial globalisation, which coincided with dramatic increases in bank sizes. This was manifested both in a rise in cross-border lending and in the growing participation of foreign banks around the world, especially in developing countries. These trends resulted in: additional capital and liquidity; efficiency improvements through technological advancements and competition; and, eventually, greater financial development.

January 25, like all major revolutions in the history, did not immediately achieve all of its goals, but certainly achieved some of them. The French Revolution, considered the greatest revolution in history, achieved its goals after many years, and its ideas were considered so enlightening they spread across the European continent and throughout the world.

In a dramatic turn, the US administration of President Donald Trump, after one year in office, took the world by surprise on 17 and 19 January. On 17 January, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gave remarks to the Hoover Institute at Stanford University on the “Way Forward for the United States Regarding Syria.” Two days later, US Secretary of Defence Lieutenant General James Mattis unveiled a new defence strategy for the United States. This article will, however, deal with the Tillerson remarks at the Hoover Institute, which aligns in tone and proposed actions to the essence of the new American defence strategy.

On the sidelines of the “The Story of a Nation” conference, I engaged in a serious discussion with several of my colleagues about the personality of the Egyptian citizen who was the subject of a documentary shown in the opening session, and how s/he bore the burden before the 25 January Revolution. Suffering was made worse during the mayhem and instability following the revolution, followed by harsh economic and security conditions that almost destroyed the country and its people, as we see in other regional countries where the blustery winds of the Arab Spring blew.

Jerusalem has returned to the centre of Arab attention and it seems as though the Palestinian cause has awakened from a deep sleep. Demonstrations swarm the streets, declarations of condemnation resound, and Arab ruling elites and everyone else who has a stance to voice against the US is riding the crest. It is no wonder that Jerusalem occupies such a sacred place in the hearts of Arabs, both Christian and Muslim. The Holy City is where Christ was crucified and where the Church of the Resurrection stands, and it is the place to where the Prophet Mohamed landed during his midnight journey on the night of the Israa and Meiraj. Nevertheless, the very return of the subject begs the question as to the reasons for its absence for so many years. Did it take a decision by the US president to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to realise that the Holy City was occupied? Could it be that the anger is directed not only at Israel and the US, but also at ourselves who seem to have been jolted awake by the sudden realisation that so much has changed both in the Arab region as a whole, which has experienced so many bloodbaths in the past few years, and in the Palestinian situation, which is so sharply divided? During the influential conference it organised on Jerusalem, Al-Azhar announced that it would introduce the subject of Jerusalem into its curriculum to ensure that future generations are acquainted with the Palestinian question and the Holy City at its heart.

Most Egyptians have probably always loved Egypt; that is a given, but they also have taken Egypt for granted; they complained, criticised, and chose to focus on the negative. Not anymore. Demonstrating devotion -- by focusing on what Egypt offers, by defending it unabashedly, and by cherishing its hard workers and great achievers -- is becoming a common denominator among most Egyptians.

We are in a time of no rules and no politics. The whole world is like a cat that fell into a basket full of strings. The more it tries to get out of it, the more complicated it becomes. We have small and medium international interest groups in the Arab region, which increases the tension in the world, especially in the region of the old sick man that is the Arab world.

In my opinion, the threat of atheism is no lesser than that of terrorism, and the atheistic wave is no longer a passing storm. You can easily realize this if you take a look at the number of views on the YouTube videos that cast doubts on religions in general, and on Islam in particular. Atheism and terrorism are equally dangerous, for atheism kills identity and questions beliefs in history, canons, religious symbols, the Prophet s companions and followers, and ultimately leads to the collapse of the foundations of whole nations and of their sacred beliefs.

Islamists come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very well educated and hold senior jobs. Others are not educated at all and might suffer from poverty or unemployment. Some believe in gradual change. Others cannot wait for instant and dramatic change. Some believe they can endure living with non-Islamists until further notice. Others believe that it is time for further notice.

Since the beginning of time, the idea of revolting against rulers has been studied and scrutinised, yet many people are still conflated about what makes ordinary citizens take to the streets and protest. A lot of people would not have imagined that protests would break out in Iran s eastern city of Mashhad, initially against price rises and corruption

Egyptians once again are mourning the victims of a vile terrorist attack, this time on a church in Helwan near Cairo that killed nine innocent people including a police officer and injured four others during religious celebrations preceding Coptic Christmas on 7 January.

I have come to know much about manipulative journalistic measures: I read between the lines and infer where a journalist is going with an argument, and, I, shrewdly if I may add, can anticipate the tone, voice, and scope of media outlets. More importantly, I have come to realize that some journalists work relentlessly against Egypt and are unabashed about that hatred.

It was written about Jesus Christ that ‘he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil. (Acts 10:38) I remembered this verse as we celebrate Christians and New Year. It was amazing that Christ has served not only those who loved and hated him as well. This was the opposite of what the terrorist who shot several Copts dead in the street as he went around doing evil! The man believes he is serving God and pleasing him by killing the infidel Christians and was hardly arrested by the unarmed people, which proves the police didn’t do their job as they should.

One bombing after another mark the successive terrorist attacks against the Copts, especially during the feasts. I didn’t want to write about the recent attack until my friends asked me to do so. However, I have very few comments on the attack in the form of few questions. Was there clear negligence by security forces? In fact, two policemen were securing the church against a terrorist who was holding a machinegun. They were not prepared or trained to react to such attacks which led them to be among the victims.