Al-Ahram Weekly

Beyond the map

By Galal Nassar

Beyond the map

Friend or foe?

Political changes in Egypt over the past three years have shifted the country’s international economic relations, writes Sherine Abdel-Razek

Friend or foe?

A new Arab disorder

2014 marked a farewell to a turbulent decade, but it could be replaced by an even more chaotic one, writes Salah Nasrawi 

A new Arab disorder
EGYPT Parliament’s long wait

Parliament’s long wait

The first two steps of Egypt’s three-part roadmap, adopted in July 2013, have been implemented. But what of the third, asks Gamal Essam El-Din

The global balance

The global balance

Egypt is seeking a far more nuanced foreign policy than was pursued under Mubarak or Morsi, writes Doaa El-Bey

2014 Timeline: Days of horror and hope

2014 Timeline: Days of horror and hope

By Compiled by Ahmed Morsy

Counting their losses

Counting their losses

A bad year for Islamists: Amany Maged reviews their performance in 2014

The borders of terror

The borders of terror

Ahmed Eleiba examines Egypt’s shifting terrorist map

Porous politics

Porous politics

Desperate to gain a foothold in the upcoming parliament, political parties are scrambling to form alliances, writes Gamal Essam El-Din

 The media malaise

The media malaise

Egypt’s media sector is larger and more influential than it has ever been, but professional standards are still falling prey to political interests and sensationalism, writes Yasser Abdel-Aziz

A rights question

A rights question

Ahmed Morsy reviews the state of human rights over the last year

Diversifying arms

Diversifying arms

Ahmed Eleiba traces changes in Egypt’s armament supply map

ECONOMY ‘Jump-starting’ the economy?

‘Jump-starting’ the economy?

This year saw the state play a key role in efforts to revive the economy, with the private sector apparently taking a back seat, writes Niveen Wahish

As good as it gets?

As good as it gets?

A higher standard of living was one of the demands of Egyptians who took to the streets almost four years ago, but has life in the country improved, asks Sherine Abdel-Razek

Subsidy-less

Subsidy-less

The removal of some subsidies made changes in the ration-card system inevitable, says Mona El-Fiqi

WORLD Cartography of terror

Cartography of terror

Ahmed Eleiba reviews the current roll call of violent militant and jihadist groups across the Arab region

Islamist wars in Africa

Islamist wars in Africa

Rather than seeing the continent’s militant Islamist movements as isolated incidents, policy-makers and social scientists have started to see patterns and a common thread, writes Gamal Nkrumah

Syria’s shifting  sands

Syria’s shifting sands

The catastrophic Syrian conflict morphed into overlapping wars, mostly fought by proxies, and now international forces are entering into the fray, writes Bassel Oudat from Damascus

Milestone year in Iraq

Milestone year in Iraq

Violence and political deadlock exacerbated the chaos in Iraq this year, writes Salah Nasrawi

Yemen’s rising faction

Yemen’s rising faction

Houthi rebels are defying government forces on various fronts and Iran’s influence in Yemen seems to be on the rise, writes Medhat Al-Zahed

Libya’s darkest year

Libya’s darkest year

Libya tipped over the precipice into open civil war in 2014, with the country divided between east and west and two conflicts raging, writes Kamel Abdallah

Severing Gaza

Severing Gaza

Israel’s attempts to separate Gaza from the West Bank is part of its strategy to encourage a piecemeal solution to the Palestinian question, writes Mohamed Gomaa

Redrawing Sudan’s borders

Redrawing Sudan’s borders

Hopes of ending the violence in Sudan have not been realised because of the country’s partition, writes Hani Raslan

The Pandora’s Box of Ebola

The Pandora’s Box of Ebola

Nigeria and Senegal have shown that Ebola is not an invincible adversary, using policies that should be extended to other West African countries, writes Gamal Nkrumah

US bases  of war in the  Middle  East

US bases of war in the Middle East

From former US president Carter to the Islamic State, US foreign policy in the Arab region has been grounded on 35 years of building US military bases and sowing disaster, writes David Vine

African horizons

African horizons

Flashes of hope brightened the African scene in 2014 despite many formidable problems, writes Haytham Nuri

Minorities and citizenship

Minorities and citizenship

Minority rights in the Arab world are ultimately a matter of recognising equal citizenship, writes Dina Ezzat

SPORTS The ball got rounder

The ball got rounder

So much can happen in soccer and much of it happened this year, including some great upsets, writes Alaa Abdel-Ghani

opinion

East is East and West is West?

The perception of a broken bridge between East and West has become a reality for many Americans, a view not shared by most Arabs, writes Jamil I Toubbeh

opinion

Shooting themselves in the feet

The Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists spent most of the year further alienating the people who once voted for them, writes Ammar Ali Hassan

opinion

Rethinking diplomacy

After 30 June, Egyptian diplomacy was challenged internationally and regionally as never before, writes Hussein Haridy

culture

Of wheels and corners: A map of indie culture

Al-Ahram Weekly highlights nine independent centres of culture in Cairo, where the celebration and creation of music, films and art are part of everyday life

features

Present imperfect

What place will Egypt occupy on the emerging regional map? And how are the contours of a post-revolutionary society shaping up? Shaden Shehab quizzes prominent analyst Al-Sayed Yassin

Mapping Egypt

Every time a land feature changes, a border shifts or a property changes hands, land surveyors spring into action, Egypt’s top cartographer tells Nader Habib

Ending traffic problems?

The government is determined to put an end to traffic congestion and the high number of road accidents, adviser to the Ministry of Transport Osama Okail tells Niveen Wahish

All in a day’s work

Rasha Saad asks one of Egypt’s most famous psychiatrists how to stay sane during these crazy times