Try to imagine the excitement of the Cuban people in 1959 when the young, charismatic barbudo, the bearded one, Fidel Castro, and his band of ragtag rebels managed to pull off the impossible: getting rid of the dictator Fulgencio Batista and ushering in -- or so everyone expected -- a new era in Cuba, a Cuba free of the corruption, violence and cronyism that had pockmarked its history since before its wars of independence. It's impossible to exaggerate the enthusiasm and hope Castro engendered in those early months in power before the realpolitik of the revolution kicked in. Who didn't want sovereignty, free health care or universal literacy?

This piece is not written by the academic I should be, but by the citizen. It does not claim to have any scientific value. Last week, I came across many friends complaining about the tyranny of discourse, of news, and they used this assessment in widely different contexts.

It was through an online article published by Al-Masry Al-Youm by Mohamed Abul Gheit that the entire community of social media was taken by a wave of shock and sadness over the state of affairs in Egypt as it keeps declining in a terrifying way. I have been consumed by deep worry and sorrow myself after having read this article with its compelling and unequivocal facts and figures that are all taken from one of the publications of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), which is a sovereign executive body that is neutral amid political affiliations and that only produces research-based material.

Aplogise!” was president-elect Donald Trump’s conclusion of two messages he wrote to the cast of Hamilton, one of the most successful Broadway musicals in recent times. He was thus responding to the incident in which actor Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays former vice president Aaron Burr, addressed the audience of the show. At the end of last Friday’s performance, noting that vice president-elect Mike Pence was in the audience, he used the opportunity to thank Pence for attending the show and told him: “We hope you will hear us out.” Then Dixon added: “We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you for seeing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colours, creeds, and orientations.”

I decided to swim against the tide that accompanied the flotation of the Egyptian pound, the rumbling flood of comments on social media networks and opinion articles that filled newspapers and websites. Everyone is talking about the flotation and cuts to fuel subsidies, some people understand what they are talking about while others are driven by sources for which Allah has sent down no authority. Surprisingly, I discovered that we have 90 million economists and financial analysts created by social networks and electronic media. I will address the consequences of the flotation by arguing that the difficult economic decisions made in Egypt can be alleviated by using social safety nets.

The draft of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) law, which was initially approved by parliament a few days ago, cannot be read without linking it with the historical, political, and social contexts surrounding it. These contexts can explain the wide-spread debate triggered by the law, and the conflict between a parliament that insists on passing its legal suggestion regardless of the NGOs’ acceptance or refusal, and NGOs that are not ready to accept it, refusing the entire package. Historically, liberating civil society and setting it free of the state’s grip has always been one of the major demands of the reformist powers in the past two decades. These powers succeeded in grabbing a significant constitutional gain represented in Article 75 of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that the establishment of NGOs is based on notification, that it is prohibited from dissolving them unless through the judiciary, and that administrative agencies have no right to interfere in the affairs of NGOs that are legally registered.

The debate earlier this month between French politicians hoping to win the conservative presidential nomination was a clash of personalities, an illustration of different right-wing traditions, a contest to write the history and define the legacy of Sarkozy’s presidency, a fierce discussion on appropriate tactical alliances, and, at some points, a technical debate. The debaters included a former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, two former prime ministers, three former heavy-weight ministers, and an unknown, a 53-year-old convert to Catholicism who heads the small Christian Democratic Party, specialises in labour issues, who paid a visit to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and supports Donald Trump, claiming he fears Clinton’s ties with Wall Street.

Aimlessly cruising with a private vehicle in a country like Egypt should not be a personal decision, where citizens lose hours in commuting, which leads to increasing pollution and consuming significant amounts of partially subsidised fuel. The chronic problem of Egypt’s traffic congestion constitutes of drivers’ misbehaviour accompanied by no real penalties, using a large car for a single purpose, consuming substantial fuel for errands that could be run online, and many other aspects that need to be tackled.

Radicalisation is a phenomenon that has been striking not only in parts of Asia and Africa but also in the heart of Europe. While the number of Muslims in Germany is estimated by 4.7 million (5.8%), 70% of the almost 900,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in recent years are believed to be Muslims. It is undeniable that there is discrimination in Germany, and it is equally undeniable that more on issues of integration and conflict prevention should be done. Thus, could effective integration processes prevent radicalisation of the Muslim youth in Europe?

Africa expects nothing good from the new US President Donald Trump – quite the reverse, writes DW’s Claus Stäcker.So far, Africa has barely existed for Donald Trump. When it has, it has only ever been in a negative context. Nigeria's Nobel Prize winner for literature, Wole Soyinka, has said he's so aghast that he will tear up his green card on January 20 and return to his homeland.

Free and fair elections are one of democracy’s main pillars as is the smooth and peaceful transfer of power. America has chosen and, whether one approves of that choice or not, it should be accepted and respected both at home and abroad. It is no secret that I wrote an op-ed in August 2015 backing Donald Trump to the hilt and supported his bid for the White House during my keynote address to delegates attending the 24th Annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference held in Washington last year. I felt then—and still do—that a successful businessman would have the skill set to strengthen the US economy, which, in turn, gives a boost to the global economy.

A key memorandum of understanding was signed at the State Department in Washington between Israel and the US last month on the future of US military aid to Israel. The deal was mostly ignored by Arab official and media circles, without any expressions of concern or condemnation or even commitments that the MoU will be studied or its future impact on the power balance in the region explored. Except for a thorough study by one Arab research centre, the Arabs chose to ignore the new US-Israel military agreement for unknown reasons.

Despite the statements and intimations that preceded it, the slate of economic measures instituted last week, and involving the floatation of the currency and increase in price of file, hit Egyptians like a lightening bolt. Maybe because they were bigger and more far-reaching than expected, or because they made concrete the depths of economic decay over the past few years, giving shape to a new economic reality that we must all come to terms with, each according to his position and circumstances. Two questions have been asked repeatedly in recent days: Were these measures as necessary and inevitable as the government says? And were there alternative ways to deal with the current crisis that would have been less brutal for the low and middle classes? Answering these questions requires distinguishing what was possible in the current moment from what was possible before and what should be done in the future.

Can a woman winning the White House change history for Egyptian women? Over the past year, I have been addressing this question with female Egyptian intellectuals in Cairo. Before discussing the intellectual women’s view of the US election, it is worth keeping in mind that only around 28% of Egyptians go to university. So most of the women I talked to do not necessarily represent average Egyptians.

As the date of the United Sates presidential election comes closer, the eyes of the entire world are directed at that election as the most important event in the field of international politics, for the immense weight the US has in the global balance of power.

Continuing the series of articles attacking Egypt, which became rife after the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in June 2013, American researcher Steven Cook wrote in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs (November/December 2016) an article entitled “Egypt’s Nightmare: Sisi’s Dangerous War on Terror.”

If there is a genuine intention to revise the protest law, as recommended by the youth summit held in Sharm al-Sheikh last week and attended by the president, then this would be a positive, welcome step But for the initiative to be celebrated, it must involve real, comprehensive change—it can’t be simply an attempt to burnish the country’s image. It must be accompanied by a repeal of other laws issued in the past two years that restrict freedoms. And it must demonstrate the state’s willingness to start fresh in how it approaches these issues.

While the Egyptian pound was devalued officially months ago, talk has surfaced about further devaluations or a full-fledged currency flotation that leaves it at the mercy of both the regular and black markets. Ambiguity launched a frenzied rush to buy dollars and store them, considering the dollar a commodity in itself, coupled with feverish activity in the foreign currency black market.

In January 2011, the majority of Egyptians, befuddled and apprehensive, stayed at home but watched closely as history unfolded. They knew that change was needed; they realised that the calls of those in Tahrir Square were warranted, but they were extremely anxious over short and long-term repercussions. In the short term, imminent danger had Egyptians nights-on-end guard their homes and possessions from looting and thuggery. As prisons and police stations got broken into, as official buildings and churches were set on fire, and as streets became treacherous, Egyptians suffered nerve-racking panic and curfew restrictions.

Faced with a drop in popularity, intermittent protests against rising prices, and calls for a mass anti-government demonstration, Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is seeking to appease the country’s youth, soccer fans, and activists with promises of change. Al-Sisi’s efforts that include a one-time lifting of a ban on spectators attending soccer matches and promises of revisions to Egypt’s draconic anti-Protest Law, as well as a review of the cases of youth detained without trial and monthly meetings with young people to follow up on resolutions of a national youth conference held earlier this month have, however, provoked sharp criticism, even before they got off the ground.

Apparently, seeing their child as a “mini-me” pleases many Egyptian parents who are quite eager to observe their life course (entailing the sum of their virtues and vices) portrayed in their children. Happiness and success are often measured in accordance with the parents’ particular perspectives, consisting mainly of children upholding their parents’ values, beliefs—and even career paths. While they may not always be aware of it, many parents manage, in one way or another, to imprint their passions, as well as their professions, upon their children, making sure that they inherit both.