On July 3, Egypt will mark a decade since the violent military coup that brought President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to power and ended the country’s brief democratic transition. Over the last ten years, al-Sisi has created a new, more repressive authoritarian system, while many brave Egyptians bravely continue to fight for rights and justice. As this somber anniversary approaches, POMED invites you to a special virtual event to look back at the coup, to assess the prospects for improved freedoms and governance, and to identify ways for the United States to support democratic progress in Egypt.

Speakers:

• Samar ElHussieny
  Programs Officer, Egyptian Human Rights Forum
• Sharan Grewal
  Assistant Professor, College of William and Mary; Nonresident Senior Fellow, POMED; Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution; and author of Soldiers of Democracy? Military Legacies and the Arab Spring (Oxford University Press, forthcoming July 2023)
• David Kirkpatrick
  Journalist, New Yorker; Cairo bureau chief, New York Times (2010–2014); and author of Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East (Penguin Books, 2019)
• Nancy Okail
  President and CEO, Center for International Policy; former executive director, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; a scholar and human rights advocate sentenced to prison in Egypt’s infamous Case 173 against NGOs

Moderator:

• Amy Hawthorne
  Deputy Director for Research, POMED

Read the Transcript.