The past decade has been the most eventful and tumultuous in Egypt’s modern political history since the abolition of the monarchy in 1952. Ten years ago, the winds of change blew their first gusts in Tunisia, sweeping longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of power. Soon after, hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen to demand an end to autocratic rule and political despotism. In many Arab Spring countries, the protest movement left devastation in its wake. In Egypt, they triggered growing pains. Ten years since Egypt’s Friday of Wrath, Egyptian millennials, the first generation of Egyptians to ever experience self-determination, face political and economic uncertainty. To amend the words of American journalist Lauren Bohn, this was the decade Egyptian millennials “learned the true meaning of bravery and, heartbreakingly, its limitations.” But somehow amid the chaos, the heartache and backstabbing, new platforms and spaces emerged on the country’s political scene, giving rise to iconic figures from across the country’s social, cultural and political spectra. From fierce idealists, to power players with substantial political cachets, all the way to moderates…
15 of the Decade’s Most Influential Figures in Egyptian Politics
February 28, 2020
