Ayra's information

Location:

• Northern Africa
• bordering Mediterranean Sea
• between Libya and the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea
• north of Sudan
• includes the Asian Sinai Peninsula

Climate:

• Desert
• hot, dry summers
• moderate winters

Terrain:

• vast desert plateau interrupted by Nile valley and delta

Major geographical features:

• controls Sinai Peninsula
• only land bridge between Africa and remainder of Eastern Hemishere
• controls Suez Canal
• sea link between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
• dependence on upstream neighbors

Racial:

• Caucasian
• Black
• Middle Eastern
• It depends on who you ask. Most Americans believe that Egyptians are caucasian. Most Egyptians classify themselves as just Egyptian or African. 

Ethnic:

• Egyptian: 99.6%
• Other: 0.4%

Class structure:

• No rigid social structure
• Wealthy upper class and lower class

Politics:

• Republic
• Cairo
• 27 Governorates
• Red Sea
• Alexandria
• Ismailia
• Giza
• Cairo
• Luxor
• New Valley
• Suez
• Port Said
• Damietta
• South Sinai
• North Sinai
• Constitution
• Latest approved by a constitutional committee in December 2013
• allows parliament to withdraw confidence from president and force early elections by 2/3 majority
• stipulates the president, not prime minister, appoints several powerful ministers
• foreign affairs, interior and justice
• sets limits to president's powers
• he can only serve 2 4 year terms
• before 6 years and re-elected unlimited number of times
• Approved by referendum held on Jan 14-15 2014
• 98.1% of Egyptians said yes
• 20 million participated in vote
• reached 38.6%
• many Egyptians boycotted the vote
• police arrested 400 people campaigning for a no vote
• Ratified by interim president on Jan 19 2014
• http://rt.com/op-edge/new-constitution-of-egypt-022/
• Legal System
• Mixed based on Napoleonic civil law and Islamic religious law
• judicial review by Supreme Constitutional Court and Council of State
• 3 Branches
• Executive
• Legislative
• Judicial

PICTURES:

 http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/egnewzz.gif (map)

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/africa/egypt/map_of_egypt.jpg  (map)

http://www.mapsofworld.com/egypt/maps/egypt-map.gif (map)

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/egafrica.gif (map)

http://www.freeworldmaps.net/africa/egypt/egypt-map-physical.jpg (map)

http://www.history-map.com/picture/001/pictures/Peninsula-Sinai-Egypt.jpg (Sinai Peninsula)

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41916000/gif/_41916320_troop_move_map416.gif (Suez Canal)

http://www.odeion.org/atlantis/pyramids-of-giza.jpg (great pyramids of Giza)

http://the-top10.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/112.jpg (Sphinx with nose)

http://paradiseintheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Great-Sphinx-of-Giza-Egypt.jpg (Sphinx full body)

Leif's work

• The regime of Egypt has been plagued with corruption like many of the other Arab states. After coming to power in 1981, Hosni Mubarak held his office until the uprisings forced him to step down in 2011. 
  

  

  Ayman Nour

  
  
  • In 2005 when Mubarak was pressured by the U.S. to allow multi-candidate presidential elections, one person named Ayman Nour, an opposition leader currently in prison ran against Mubarak. Nour gained 7% of the total votes and was released from prison because of political pressure, but was soon arrested again for an additional four years under allegations of falsification of documents. This scared others away from attempting to run Against Mubarak. Following the election, Mubarak created many constitutional amendments that effectively barred anyone other than him and his son from running in the elections.   
  • Many of Mubarak's friends are given monopolies in large industries such as the steel, cotton, and hotel industries.
  • The government in Egypt was a  kleptocracy where favors from the security force or politicians were bought with bribes and president Mubarak was able to accumulate between $2 and $6 billion.

• The divide between the wealthy and the poor in Egypt was extremely large. 44% of Egyptians can be considered poor and 2.1 million citizens of the 81 – 100 million Egyptian population cannot support their food needs through their income. The average wage in Egypt is only $100 whereas many of the upper class own private jets.

• There is a severe lack of jobs for people coming out of college. This is due to the small growth in the job market coupled with the large boom in the number of young people. This results in a period of “waithood” where young adults wait for several years before they get a job or become married. 
  
  

  

  Security forces

• The regime has used the security force to prevent citizens from defying them. The security force has intimidated and tortured citizens in order to keep the citizens in order.

Hosni Mubarak

•  When the third president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 Hosni Mubarak took his place as president. During Mubarak's presidency political corruption in the ministry of interior rose dramatically. During the decade leading up to Mubarak's resignation in 2011, protests against Mubarak and his son's presidency has been a feature of life in Egypt. Mubarak and his administration were the main cause of the Arab spring uprisings because of their corruption and mistreatment of the people of Egypt.

Wael Ghonim

•  Wael Ghonim is the person who founded the Facebook group named "We are all Khaled Said." He is was one of the most influential people in the organization of the protests against the government before and during the January 25th protests that eventually forced Mubarak to step down from office. Wael used his knowledge of marketing to make the Facebook page appeal to as large an audience as possible.

•  The security forces caused the initial spark to the uprisings through the murder of Khaled Said and played large role throughout the protests by suppressing the masses and interrogating bloggers along with other activists.

•  Possible future scenarios
• The good future -- Egypt is able to move towards a democracy where the people are able to have input on how the country should be run.
• The bad future -- Egypt continues to be stuck in a struggle between the government and the people.
• The middle ground -- Egypt is slow to obtain a democratic government and the military gains political power above the actual legislative body.

Gelvin, James L. The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.

Ghonim, Wael. Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People Is Greater than the People in Power: A Memoir. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.

Noueihed, Lin, and Alex Warren. The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-revolution      and the Making of a New Era. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print

Link

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html

Here is a good link for info on Egypt. 

Group Emails

mr.scarn007@gmail (Anthony)

Lerkenbrach@gmail.com (Leif)

ayrajoyce.abdo@gmail

mikedonaruma@gmail.com

Country Questions

1. Location/Geography/Environment-The official name and year of origin of this country, location, climate and major geographical features of the country. (Be sure to include Maps and a Flag!) (Ayra)

2. Social Structure–What racial, ethnic, class structures are present? (Ayra)

3. Politics- what type of government runs this country? (Ayra)

4. Religion/Ideology-what type of religious activity is present? (Anthony)

5. Economics-what types of economic activity, natural resources (oil, etc.) are present? (Anthony)

6. Technology-Is this an “advanced” country technologically? (Anthony)

7. Popular Culture: Any special food? Sports? Pop stars? Sites? (Mike)

8. 21st Century Challenges and Opportunities – Describe any. (Mike)

9. “Arab Spring” focused questions:

A. Immediate precipitating causes of the “Arab Spring” – when, how and why? (Mike)

B. Long-term causes of the “Arab Spring” – why did it happen in your country, based on deeper historical and cultural issues? (Leif)

C. Key players – who are THREE individuals and organizations that have served as key players in the “Arab Spring”? (Leif)

D.Possible futures for your “Arab Spring” country – play out at least THREE different future scenarios – what might happen? (Leif)