How to Stay in Power Building & Maintaining a Single-Party Regime in Egypt Supporters of Pres. Mubarak during the Egyptian presidential campaign, fall Photo: Yahoo news

Map of Egypt

5 Points to Note 1) Cohesive sense of identity  Political entity since 3200 BC  77 million people  Arab/Egyptian  90-94% Sunni Muslim 6-10% Coptic Christian 2) Resources A view of Cairo. Above, children in Cairo. Left, The Egyptian Museum.

3) Administrative Experience –Muhammad Ali, (governor)  reform program –refashioned the armed forces –reorganized administration –installed centralized bureaucracy –changed patterns of landholding –sustained diplomatic and commercial contact with Europe Muhammad Ali of Egypt. Source: Encarta.com

4) British colonialism & imperialism –French invasion, 1798 –integration into global market, late 1800s –1869: construction and opening of Suez Canal in –1882: British invasion and occupation –1923 Constitutional Monarchy 5) Some history of democratic governance ( ) –10 parliamentary elections –Wafd Party –Problems: mostly rural, illiterate electorate, external intervention

Creating the one-party state: foundations 1952 Egyptian Revolution (Gamal Abd al-Nasser) 1952 Egyptian Revolution (Gamal Abd al-Nasser) “Can I ask you a question: what is democracy? We were supposed to have a democratic system during the period 1923 to But what good was this democracy to our people? I will tell you. Landowners and Pashas ruled our people. They used this kind of a democracy as an easy tool for the benefits of a feudal system.” - Nasser, 1957 interview, quoted in Roger Owen (2000, p. 149)

Egypt: Government Structure President (Hosni Mubarak) National Assembly (444 members) National Democratic Party (NDP) Supreme Constitutional Court Emergency State Security Courts (since 2005)

Maintaining the one-party state: methods

Fight external enemies & promote nationalism western imperialism & the Arab-Israeli conflict western imperialism & the Arab-Israeli conflict –1958 Suez Canal Crisis –1967 Six Day War –1973 October/Yom Kippur War –1978/79 Camp David Accords –Palestinian nationalism Pres. Nasser kicks Israel into the sea. A cartoon published in Lebanon in the run-up to the 1967 Six-day war. From Wikipedia.com. Israeli tanks in the Golan heights, 1973.

Promises of Prosperity Arab socialism under Nasser Arab socialism under Nasser –nationalization Infitah - Open Door Infitah - Open Door Economic Development Economic Development Foreign aid Foreign aid –$3 billion annually  $1 billion from U.S. Source: The Economist

Carefully managed dissent Rigged elections Rigged elections Carefully managed opposition Carefully managed opposition Supporters of the Kefaya (Enough) movement in recent demonstrations.

Fear & Repression Emergency Law Emergency Law Restrictions on freedom of expression, activity Restrictions on freedom of expression, activity Detainment & imprisonment Detainment & imprisonment  Targets: Islamic activists, civil rights activists, homosexuals,  Torture  Inadequate investigations Social Atomization & Alienation Social Atomization & Alienation –The Mugammah One method of torture in Egypt, as reported by Amnesty International. I was unable to ascertain the original source of the picture.