Egypt’s Repression Against Civil Society

On the surface, the regime’s actions appear irrational and excessive to the point of paranoia. However, precisely the stark lack of any political realism in this repression betrays its roots. The causes of the 2011 uprising were ultimately the combination of corruption, material dispossession resulting from the ‘structural adjustment’ of Egypt’s economy, and political dispossession epitomised by the repression of security services. None of those structural problems have even been addressed – indeed, the situation has worsened. However, Egypt’s ‘mafia state’ is built upon precisely these three ‘stool legs’: seriously tackling any of them would undermine an already precariously perched regime.