Culture matters! And when it comes to Egyptian politics, it matters enormously. In the absence of a proper political structure, where the existing structure is often altered to better serve the ruler, culture plays an essential role in mobilising Egyptians.

Qatar is signalling the rejection of demands of human rights and trade union activists to grant trade union and collective bargaining rights to its majority migrant worker population with the detention and likely deportation of more than 100 predominantly South Asian labourers who went on strike to protest low pay as well as poor working and living conditions.

This week concludes the visit by an IMF delegation, the first in Egypt since March 2013, though this visit is dedicated solely to assessing current economic conditions and offering counsel, with no specific program commitments to follow. Preparations are also well underway for the economic conference for donors and investors, scheduled for March 13–14, and for the projects and legislation to be announced at the conference. In substantive terms, over the last six months the government has implemented several major policy decisions. It has reduced energy subsidies, increased fertilizer prices, developed a new distribution system for bread and other subsidized items, raised corporate and personal income taxes, launched the Suez Canal project, and expanded infrastructure projects.

Human rights groups and trade unions have stepped up pressure on Qatar to reform its restrictive labour system, and have expanded their campaign to include all six wealthy members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Innovation in developing economies is evolving rapidly, but can still improve in terms of marketing. Businesses in emerging economies can make profits and can positively affect the livelihoods of people. In the next generation, multinational corporations can expand to vast un- and underserved consumer groups in developing countries. Executives need to redefine their roles and relationships across companies and radically depart from traditional business models through new partnerships and structures.

I recently visited the village of Beir Anbar in the district of Koft, Qena governorate, and listened to the powerful statement this community is conveying to the rest of the country to put an end to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). The whole village, from young schoolchildren to village elders, came together to denounce FGM as "violent", "wrong" and "harmful."

Female circumcision, also called female genital mutilation (FGM) is widely practiced in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. More than 125 million women have been subjected to different forms of genital mutilation across Africa and in areas of western and southern Asia, and 2 million women undergo the procedure annually. According to UNICEF, 91% of women age 15–49 undergo female circumcision in Egypt, where a young woman died recently following this procedure.

Egypt launched in Sinai the most vigorous anti-terrorist campaign ever undertaken in the country. The attack on 24 October, which killed 31 military, has been the trigger of this broad offensive of muscular means, including the establishment of a buffer zone 500 meters wide along the 14 kilometre of border with the Gaza Strip.

A friend is one who tells you the truth, not one who believes you regardless. I fear that for some politics means singing the tune the political leadership wants to hear and they can never convey bad news. But it is important to face negligence and shortcomings with courage, because burying our head in the sand will not protect us from imminent dangers.

Within the “1952” – or “army” – family, power is transferred from president to president when the regime arrives at a crisis. For this reason, a new president must confront the causes that led to the crisis without sacrificing the constants of the regime. In other words, the new president must be seen to redraw political and economic lines, while simultaneously maintaining the regime’s constants, so that it appears to political and social forces which do not belong to the ruling class that new constants have been formed.

In August 2012, after a vicious attack on Egyptian soldiers in Rafah, I wrote an article about state policy towards Sinai, questioning mainly the presence of an actual strategy for the development of Sinai and for countering the growing threat of terrorism in such a strategic spot.

Egypt seems to be headed back toward the 1960s, when Gamal Abdel Nasser set a precedent for the whole Arab world by creating a police state that brutally suppressed dissidents and instilled fear among its citizens.

Last week, the terrorists have sentenced 13 soldiers of Egyptian navy then two policemen and three soldiers. However, at the same day, anchor Hamdy Rizk discussed in his TV show the abolition of the death penalty. Of course, he meant the state and not the terrorists.

Many reasons combine together to explain the continuity of the Islamic State organisation (known also as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant — ISIL), and even when it is weakened it will continue as an idea and ideology for some Islamists and the sympathisers of the Islamic Caliphate. ISIL succeeded in establishing a glimpse of the Islamic nation they believe in. Al-Qaeda failed to apply its ideology in occupying land and implementing Islamic laws, as ISIL has done. This article will highlight the reasons behind the continuity of ISIL in the foreseeable future.

After years of uncertainty and turbulence, Egypt’s economy is beginning to show some signs of recovery, with a marked rise in business confidence helping to strengthen indicators in both capital markets and the broader economy.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis (ABM) officially announced their allegiance to ISIS and their recognition of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi as the Amir of all Muslims this week, with both groups exchanging support via web pages affiliated with jihadist organisations. Forming an even more serious a concern, ISIS sent ABM a new target map to implement in the coming phase, which attempts to escalate terrorist operations against the military in Sinai and move members into Cairo and other surrounding cities in order to carry out more attacks.

With the absence of labour rights in the Gulf under fire as a result of Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, Gulf states are likely to take heart from a recent study that asserts that authoritarian regimes in the oil-rich Middle East and China have contributed more to the eradication of global inequality than Western nations.

It is important to reveal the neglected aspects of WWI in Egypt, when a state of terror swept all cities in anticipation of a foreign invasion from every direction.

If, as an Egyptian citizen, you believe that your voice counts, you are completely misguided! If you are an acknowledged politician intensely involved in drafting the Egyptian parliamentary election law or constitution, believing that you are playing a positive role in its political development, then you certainly are quite a naïve politician.

106 former high-ranking Israeli members of the armed forces, police, and intelligence have called on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a strong move for peace with the Palestinians. In a letter to the prime minister, the army and police officers said that Netanyahu should seriously pursue peace with the Palestinians stating: “We, the undersigned, reserve Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars.” The officers called on Netanyahu to embark on a “courageous initiative” and make peace with the Palestinians and other Arab countries.

A friend of mine recounted an incident recently whereby their taxi driver, in the midst of a Cairo traffic jam, took a sharp unlawful turn down a one-way street in the wrong direction and then, at a low speed, hit an unsuspecting pedestrian who was walking along the centre of the road. What followed was a heated argument, whereby the driver accused the pedestrian of walking in the wrong place, only for the pedestrian to reply incredulously “what do you expect me to do, walk on the sidewalk!?”. The pedestrian gestured with his hand towards the dilapidated sidewalk, as if to suggest what an outrageous prospect that might be.