Egypt faces a severe economic crisis that has not been seen since the late 1980s, when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Egypt will be having its own national conference. Sooner or later this will be happening. It is inevitable. Egyptians will have to choose between two scenarios either taking the initiative by setting the date for such a national conference and outlining its agenda or letting matters slipping out of their hands and getting more escalated and complicated, thus missing out on the opportunity of organizing it on their own and allowing outsiders to call the shots and do that in their place. In that latter case “Egypt National Conference” would be held by foreign parties and its venue would be outside the homeland.

The revolution proper is coming. It must and it will. Egypt has had enough of autocratic patriarchies. The foundations are shaking. The intense public rejection of autocracy in all its formswith its unbearable repressions that started two years ago is not letting up. With every attempt to contain the revolution its forces get stronger. This is the physics of revolution.

There is a particular image from 25 January 2011 that has left an indelible mark on my consciousness — one that has fundamentally shaped the way in which I understand post-revolutionary Egypt. So important is the image to my mind that I regularly show

The fate of ousted former president Hosni Mubarak, currently serving a life sentence for having done nothing to save civilian demonstrators from being killed during the 25 January Revolution, has become intertwined with foreign policy issues

The speech that was delivered by Saudi Sheikh Mohamed al-Arifi in praise of Egypt

In the middle of all the political and economical turmoil facing the people of Egypt, along with the worry and anxiety over the uncertain future of the country, and while people are wondering whether they will be able to sustain themselves and their children in light of the increasing poverty and the loans our government insists on burdening us with, our esteemed presidency is filing one lawsuit after the other against people they deem disrespectful of the president. It looks like they have nothing better to do, allocating lawyers, judges and administrators to work on reports and compile case-files. All the effort, time and money being put into this is a waste and an insult to all of us.

Two and a half weeks before a Tunisian street vendor ignited a popular revolt in Tunisia that would sweep across North Africa and the Levant, Middle East expert and global strategist extraordinaire Walid Phares demonstrated why his penetrating insight and peerless foresight are so highly sought after by policymakers and national security officials both at home and abroad. In a guest piece that appeared in Steven Levingston's Washington Post blog, Political Bookworm on December 2, 2010, Phares reiterated the predictions he had logged several months earlier while writing the manuscript of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East, predictions that would become international front page headlines less than two weeks after the ink had dried on the first print run of his latest book.

History tells of many regimes that fell after the collapse of their national currency and hyperinflation, which is usually connected to it, especially in Latin America. There, shops would sometimes stop writing down the price of merchandise because they could not keep up with spiralling prices. They would only put an index on it or its price in another currency that is relatively stable, such as the dollar, which is known in economic terms as 'dollarisation,' or accept the dollar in transactions alongside or in place of the national currency.

Leading Muslim Brotherhood member and former presidential adviser Essam al-Erian created a stir when he called on Egyptian Jews in Israel to return home, because Egypt is now a democracy. Some might think that Erian’s courting of Israel and the Jews represents a break with the history of the Brotherhood, supposedly characterized by total enmity to the Zionist entity and its Jewish population. However, the fact is that this is simply a reflection of the Brotherhood’s untiring pragmatism throughout 80 years of political activity.

On December 20 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). On December 22 the national referendum in Egypt voted in a new constitution. What do the resolution and constitution bode for the body politic and female bodies in Egypt?

In the past two months of the country’s purported transition to democracy, the legal realm has come to the fore as one of the most fiercely contested arenas of political struggle.

Imagine the following; Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jesse Jackson travel around the US and use as many of the Baptist churches in America to spread the following message: “Vote for brother Obama (not for America but) for the greater African nation”. “Vote for Brother Obama if you want to go to heaven; if you do not, you will suffer eternal damnation in hell.” Finally, imagine that the Reverends were Republicans.

"Hey there, Number 28!" – A friend texts me using my new nickname. Indeed, for at least one day of every month that’s what I answer to; Number 28. That’s where I fall in the list of 43 defendants on trial for working in what the government deemed "illegal civil society organizations."

Two and a half weeks before a Tunisian street vendor ignited a popular revolt in Tunisia that would sweep across North Africa and the Levant, Middle East expert and global strategist extraordinaire Walid Phares demonstrated why his penetrating insight and peerless foresight are so highly sought after by policymakers and national security officials both at home and abroad. In a guest piece that appeared in Steven Levingston's Washington Post blog, Political Bookworm on December 2, 2010, Phares reiterated the predictions he had logged several months earlier while writing the manuscript of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East, predictions that would become international front page headlines less than two weeks after the ink had dried on the first print run of his latest book.

There is no doubt that if Egyptians apply genuine democracy and true Islamic values we will become a better and more productive society.

Besides being issued by a prominent leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the significance of Essam El-Erian's recent call for Egyptian Jews to return to Egypt can be found in what El-Erian actually said and what he meant by it.

The 25 January revolution was a truly Egyptian revolution. Inspired by the youth, it was quickly joined by millions of Egyptians

The 25 January revolution was a truly Egyptian revolution. Inspired by the youth, it was quickly joined by millions of Egyptians from various segments of society. There is no doubt that the revolution has lost its direction, momentum and magnitude, mainly due to faults committed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). However, the United States has also played a role that aims at limiting and directing the revolution’s goal of building a true democratic state in Egypt.

It’s the end of an excruciating year, and I am almost depleted of energy. Instead of the usual long and cold analysis, I would like, for a change, to write a more personal note.

When asked last September about a title for a talk I was to give at Yale University