Bassem Youssef and the Sultan
[Originally posted on Foreign Policy.] Mocking rulers is a tradition almost as old as rule itself. At times mockery is subtle and allegorical; at others it is blunt, sometimes gauche, but always funny. [...]
April 2013
June 2012
Why the bad news in Egypt is worse than you thought
Crossposted at Foreign Policy Transitions. In short: It's not a coup, but we're screwed anyway. This week, the Egyptian military made its boldest attempt yet to regain control over a country that has been slipping from [...]
What I looked like when I voted for Morsi
Egyptian embassy, Tunis. Thanks Samar S. Mezghanni for the photo! It's not that I like him. I hate the living hell out of him. Why did I vote? I hate Shafiq more [...]
The Spy who Said “Really?!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_1yj5IlyZqo] Oh. Dear. God. That was my first reaction when I saw this new ad broadcast on a government satellite channel: A young fellow, supposed to be foreign, walks into a cafe plastered with revolutionary slogans (including [...]
April 2012
Why this 27-year old will be writing Egypt’s constitution
I have no doubt she’s “very smart” and a “wonderful human being” and now “a lovely mom” as I was told by her classmates (class of 2006) – some of whom I tutored back in [...]