A man carrying a flag on his way to a pro government protest in Cairo on 25 January 2014 | Photo: Sebastian Horndasch | CC BY 2.0

We Need to Understand Why States Object to the Presence of Foreign-funded NGOs

More and more countries restrict how NGOs operate, often by limiting their funding. The response is frequently to argue that these restrictions flout international law or amount to crackdowns on the opposition. Annika Elena Poppe and Jonas Wolff argue that the objections to NGO activity need to be taken seriously. In Egypt, for example, they are rooted in concerns about sovereignty and foreign interference.

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Clashes between the police and the poeple of Warraq Island in Cairo, Egypt
Clashes between the police and the poeple of Warraq Island in Cairo, Egypt | Photo: dpa / Ibrahim Ezzat

Egypt’s New Stability: How Long Can an Exclusionary Order Be Sustained?

The Egyptian government raised the prices of fuel and electricity at the end of June 2017, marking the second increase in less than a year. These measures are part of an IMF-backed reform effort, initiated in November 2016, that seeks to abandon most currency controls and to cut fuel subsidies. This new round of subsidy cuts has accelerated Egypt’s annual inflation rate, leading it to reach the highest level in decades by July. Despite the deterioration of socio-economic conditions in Egypt, protests have not erupted to any significant degree and, at first sight, the overall situation seems to be stable. This text presents a few doubts as to why the current order is not sustainable – in spite of the lack of public contention

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The Sinai desert in Egypt | Photo: Marc Ryckaert | CC BY 3.0

Beduinen im Sinai: Verbündete im Kampf gegen den „Islamischen Staat“?

Während viele Augen auf die militärischen Erfolge gegen den „Islamischen Staat“ im Irak gerichtet sind, kämpfen Ableger der Organisation in anderen Teilen der Region weiterhin erbittert, etwa im nord-östlichen Sinai. Dort strebt der IS-Ableger „Wilayat Sinai“ mit lokaler beduinischer Unterstützung danach, eine Provinz des „Islamischen Staates“ zu errichten und liefert sich dabei ausgedehnte Gefechte mit den staatlichen Sicherheitskräften. Seit Anfang dieses Jahres haben sich jedoch einige beduinische Stämme auch auf Seiten der Regierungskräfte in den Konflikt eingemischt, was die ambivalente Beziehung zwischen den lokalen Beduinen und dem „Islamischen Staat“ veranschaulicht.

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