poliproject

President el-Sisi changed Egypt's political landscape through a history of militarization. Egypt's military dictatorship, conflicts with other nations, and the Arab Spring Revolution contributed to the rise of the military's power. Despite hopes for democracy, el-Sisi's authoritarian rule was supported by the US, which provides significant military aid. This aid strengthens el-Sisi's position and suppresses political resistance. To best understand how President el-Sisi changed the modern Egyptian political landscape, we need to look back to how Egypt developed into the highly militarized state that we see today. After its release from informal British control and monarchism during Nasser's 1952 free office revolution, Egypt has found itself in one of the most politically unstable and violent areas of the world. Headed by a new military dictatorship, controlled by the same junta that caused the 1952 revolution, Egypt began its descent into further militarization. Only four years after its initial conception, Egypt found itself at war with the English, French, and the new nation of Israel over the Suez Canal. Later, still under Gamal Nasser's control, Egypt entered into another international conflict with the North Yemen Civil War. The military leadership, coupled with growing international conflict, grew both the functional and political strength of the Egyptian military, a trend that continues today. To further explore how Egypt's history influenced its current military strength, we interview Dr. Simila Deen, a UNC professor specializing in modern Middle Eastern history and modern Asian history. With such a strong military presence in both society and the upper level of government, it's no coincidence that military suppression became a useful tactic in crushing civilian resistance. With the rise of the Arab Spring Revolution, Egyptian citizens flooded the Tahrir Square to protest decades of economic struggle, supporting pro-democratic Islamist parties like the Muslim Brotherhood. Once these protests reached a boiling point, then-President Hossein Mubarak sent troops that killed over 840 civilians, according to Amnesty International, prompting the response of then-U.S. President Barack Obama. After a brief stint of leadership by Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian military took back the reigns under now-President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2013. Despite this authoritarian takeover, Egypt has remained one of the largest recipients of American foreign aid, with over $235 million U.S. dollars being approved by President Biden just this November. To get a better understanding of the hypocrisy of America's support being given to democratic movements and now to the autocracies that replace them, we turn back to our conversation with Dr. Deen. In short, there were hopes during the Arab Spring that Egypt would become a functional, fair democracy. But since el-Sisi's coup took power, America has continued to support the nation, choosing to keep its ally rather than its democratic values. U.S. funds, like most of the Egyptian budget, is directly funneled into military spending, strengthening el-Sisi against further forms of political resistance.