Egypt’s foreign service has a long history and accumulated experience and weight. It is perhaps one of the very few government bodies where aptitude is central to recruitment and career advancement and where favouritism is almost sidelined.

Mohamed ElBaradei is no traitor, because a traitor, according to my perception and limited legal knowledge, is a spy at war with his homeland and people. ElBaradei is none of that. Rather, he endured a lot to secure the victory of the 30 June revolution. I suspect that ElBaradei’s criticisms of the the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohamed Morsi's government led the way for the vast majority of liberals.

For whom do we write? Opinion articles in Egyptian newspapers have breached journalistic standards. News outlets and websites have left their doors wide open for anyone who is anyone to write opinion articles. It is no longer limited to a certain learned group of writers in whose intelligence editors-in-chief and newspaper owners trust.

In a statement characterised with pessimism, the International Monetary Fund deputy managing director stressed the necessity of joint action in order to prevent a global economic collapse in light of the risks that current economic policies incorporate, as well as the general feeling that nothing can be done in regard to the world’s economic crisis.

During the previous decade, Arab countries faced a number of big challenges, some of which have evolved into threats challenging governments, institutions, and people.

After revolting twice against their rulers in less than five years, Egyptians are now longing for the era of Hosni Mubarak. They long for when the economy was substantially better, security was functioning and the country was more politically stable. After decades of suffering and after paying a high price for their two “revolutions”, Egyptians believe that they deserve a better life. Yet, they need to understand that only if the country is placed on the right path will this goal be achieved.

Calm seems to have prevailed in the currency market in the past few days following the Central Bank's recent decision to devalue the Egyptian Pound against the US Dollar by around 15%.

According to a Thomson Reuters Foundation 2013 survey, Egyptian women fare the worst amongst the 22 Arab states. The survey based its findings on a surge in sexual harassment, high rates of female genital mutilation (FGM), and the rise in violence after Egypt's revolutions.

The most recent European Union resolution has effectively condemned Egyptian security forces for the murder of Italian PhD student, Giulio Regeni. The young Cambridge scholar was forcibly disappeared and killed while conducting research on independent trade unions in Egypt. Despite signs of torture, including pulled nails and cigarette burns on his body, Egyptian officials claimed it was a roadside accident. The EU resolution is non-binding, meaning that European governments may continue to support more human rights abuses if they choose, since the recommendations may not be enforced.

Contrary to what some claimed would happen, the value of the dollar has not dropped. It has continued to climb, as reported on various news websites with sensational headlines such as “Another leap for the dollar” or “The pound continues to bleed.”

I have little sympathy, political or otherwise, for Tawfiq Okasha, television personality and until a few days ago, Member of Parliament.

Despite the change in political leadership in Egypt from 2011 until now, none of the different administrations that assumed office were able to arrive at a successful strategy to handle Ultras movements. Courses of action adopted by the different political administrations included attempted dialogues, cooptation, legislation, and outright violence. However, until today the state remains unable to repress the movements or accommodate them.

Corruption is the buzzword today. Everyone worldwide is talking about corruption. By definition, corruption is generally known as “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery”. It also refers to bribery or kickback. Transparency International, the anti-corruption watchdog, defines corruption as “the abuse of power for private gains”. Transparency International explains that corruption has a wider scope than bribery, which is frequently believed to be synonymous with corruption associated with government officials.

Egypt is set to explode. When and how is dependent on who pulls the trigger and why. Those who had the opportunity to peruse the previous article came to quickly understand that Egypt has galloped to a 3, on a danger scale of 1-5, in 2.5 years of de jure Al-Sisi rule. A combination of human rights abuses, security failure, and economic failures have each contributed to increasing pressure on a regime that history may judge as, potentially, the most brutal in modern Egyptian history.

Egypt seeks to move the economic growth process forward with every means possible, whether through local or Arab or foreign investment. This growth is the way to raise standards of life, create jobs and enable people to earn their living by themselves with dignity. If economic growth is accompanied with social justice it is easy to consolidate political and security stability, which is based on social consent not on an authoritarian grip.

It was recently announced that Egypt would receive a loan from the World Bank amounting to $3 billion, a third of which has already been delivered.

The Kerdasa Massacre, August 2013. Fifty militants storm the police station, killing 14 policemen. Graphic visuals of dead and mutilated bodies splashed all over traditional Egyptian news outlets and online platforms.

In an extraordinary meeting of the Doctors’ Syndicate General Assembly, an unprecedented 10,000 doctors gathered from all around the country to defend the dignity of medical professionals, which is synonymous with the dignity of Egypt. Behind them stood masses of Egyptians from different professional syndicates, along with average citizens, to express both their solidarity with the doctors and outrage at the Minister of Interior's hostility.

Saudi Arabia is confronting a perfect storm of challenges: economic, political, social, ideological, and geopolitical. How it weathers the storm will likely depend on how it handles the inevitable restructuring of the problematic partnership between the Al Saud ruling family and the Wahhabi ulama or religious scholars, on whom the former rely for their legitimacy.

I listened to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s speech and I found myself wondering how Egyptians will react to his call to donate a pound every morning to collect a total of EGP 4bn in a year via text messages. I became more concerned with the spread of upbeat emotional statements through various media and social networking sites that have inflated the initiative, saying it will bring billions and fix the inherited economic problems.

Authoritarianism makes for bad journalism — often, very bad journalism. The truism is self-evident and more than amply demonstrated by lived experience, not only in Egypt but everywhere in the world.