Mubarak’s Egypt: Fragmentation of the Political Order

320 Pages·2019·34 MB·English

by  Robert Springborg

MUBARAK'S EGYPT

MUBARAK'S EGYPT
Fragmentation
of
the Political Order
Robert Springborg
~~ ~~o~;!~n~~~up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1989 by Westview Press, Inc.
Published 2018 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Springborg, Robert.
Mubarak's Egypt: fragmentation of the political order /Robert Springborg.
p. em.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8133-7643-2
I. Egypt-Economic policy. 2. Egypt-Politics and
govemment-1981- I. Title.
HC830.568 1989
338.962-dc19 88-11096
CIP
ISBN 13: 978-0-367-01275-5 (hbk)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
A Note on Transliteration xi
1 EGYPT CONFRONTS THE NEW ORTHODOXY
OF DEVELOPMENT 1
Egypt's Reluctance to Adopt the New Orthodoxy, 4
Alternative Scenarios, 7
Organization of Following Chapters, 12
Notes, 15
2 MUDARAK, THE POLITICAL ELITE, AND THE CHANGING
POLITICAL ECONOMY 19
Mubarak's Political Style, 23
Mubarak and the Political Elite, 30
The Political Elite and the Changing Political
Economy, 33
Mubarak: The Enigma Revealed? 37
Notes, 41
3 THE DOUI\GEOISIE AND THE STATE 45
Islamic Investment Companies Versus the State, 47
Strategies to Forestall Government Control, SO
The First Moment of Truth, 53
The Government Tries Again, 58
"Rent" Collectors and Fragmented Government, 61
Segments of the Bourgeoisie, 63
Entrepreneurial Capitalists and the Strategy of
Avoidance, 78
Parasitic Bourgeoisie and the Strategy of Subversion, 81
Conclusion, 85
Notes, 87
v
vi CONTENTS
4 THE MILITARY 95
The Legacy of Civil-Military Relations, 95
Mubarak and Abu Ghazala, 98
Military Self-Sufficiency and the Expansion of
Patronage, 104
Horizontal Military Expansion, 107
Mubarak, Abu Ghazala, and the Opposition, 118
The Future of Civil-Military Relations, 123
Notes, 125
5 THE SYSTEM OF POLITICAL CONTROL 135
The Carrot, 13 7
Ministry of Interior, 140
The National Democratic Party, 155
Ministry of Social Affairs, 170
Exclusionary Corporatism? 173
Notes, 174
6 SECULAR AND ISLAMICIST OPPOSITION 183
The Secular Opposition, 187
The Limits to Democracy, 187
Control of Elections, 189
Parliament, 191
The Media, 193
Sources of Opposition Parties' Weakness, 198
Party Infighting: The Case of the Wafd, 202
Class Bases of Opposition Parties, 207
Lack of Coordination Between Opposition Parties, 209
The Political Vacuum: Explosive or Just Empty? 210
The lslamicist Opposition, 215
The Reemergence of Islamic Activism in Mubarak's
Egypt, 215
Are lslamicists Practicing Taqiya? 219
Strengths of the Islamicist Movement, 223
Weaknesses and Vulnerabilities of the Islamicist
Movement, 231
Factionalization of the Moslem Brotherhood, 233
Weaknesses of Gama'at, 238
The State's Response to the Islamicist Challenge, 240
The Challenge Persists, 244
Notes, 245
CONTENTS vii
7 ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND THE LIMITS OF
POLICY LEVERAGE 255
Dependency in the Absence of Multinational
Corporations? 255
Increasing Commitment to Policy Leverage, 257
Responses to Policy Leverage, 259
Emergence of a Reform Coalition? 261
Scenario One: Breakthrough, 263
Scenario Two: A Temporary Retreat, 264
Limited Impact of the Reforms of 1986-1987:
Fiscal and Monetary Policies, 266
Limited Impact of Agriculture Policy Reforms, 268
Instruments of Leverage, 271
Politics as Usual, 280
Notes, 285
8 CONCLUSION 295
Notes, 298
Index 299

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The bulk of the field research on which this book is based was
conducted in Egypt in 1986. It was made possible by a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities administered by the American
Research Center in Egypt, and by further assistance from Macquarie
University. I would particularly like to thank Paul Walker, Richard
Verdery, and Robert Betts of ARCE for facilitating the smooth transition
from a southern to a northern hemisphere academic year and for assisting
me and my family while we were in Cairo.
Having first become enamored of Egypt while working as a front
desk clerk in an international hotel in Cairo in 1965, I have over the
years accumulated an enormous debt of gratitude to innumerable Egyp-
tians. Ahmad Fawzi and Ali Darwish, close friends of mine for more
than twenty years, have made me feel as much at home in their country
as in mine by sharing their knowledge of Egyptian society and politics
with me. Others with whom I have been in contact over the years and
who facilitated this and other projects include Adil Hussain, Tahsin
Bashir, Hilmi Murad, and Sayed, Omar, Nasr, and Hassan Marei. Sayid
Yassin and Salama Ahmad Salama, both of al-Ahram, generously shared
with me their insights into contemporary events. Various members of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Muhammad Assim, Badair
Ghamrawi, and the recently deceased Salah Hindawi, assisted and
encouraged this project at various stages. Sayid al-Kholi, also of that
ministry, has not only taught me a great deal about the Egyptian political
economy but has also provided documentation and other assistance that
was vital to this endeavor. He was also the first to read an early draft
of the manuscript, correcting numerous errors and encouraging me to
push on. I have also benefited from interacting with various Egyptian
academics. Ali Dessouki, Assim Dessouki, and Ibrahim Soliman have
been particularly helpful. To all of these warmhearted, hospitable men
I would like to express my deepest appreciation.
Various individuals employed in western institutions in Egypt were
also of great help to me. Sylvia Mitchell, director of the Development
Information Center of USAID, guided me professionally through the
labyrinth of the Center's extremely useful collection. William Janssen,
ix