|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.fpri.org/articles/2013/10/islamist-or-nationalist-who-egypts-mysterious-new-pharaoh
Egypt's New Pharaoh: Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi
(Foreign Policy Research Institute) Raymond Stock - In his year of study at the U.S. Army War College in 2006, al-Sisi produced a brief thesis on his views of Islam and the state. In it, al-Sisi declares, "There is hope for democracy in the Middle East over the long term; however, it may not be a model that follows a Western template." Those who know al-Sisi say that he grew up in a family that was religiously conservative - not radical - and extremely nationalistic. Indeed, it is that sense of nationalism which seems to have the upper hand in motivating the actions he's taken thus far. Al-Sisi has returned to direct and confident military cooperation with Israel in order to prevent al-Qaeda-affiliated groups (believed to have cooperated with the Muslim Brotherhood) from staging deadly incidents along the sensitive border.