Epstein Secrets

eign reserves are falling, as the central bank struggles to support the currency. Some fear that Egypt is heading for a balance-of-payments crisis. An International Monetary Fund-style austerity regime in an already poor country will not be a great advert for the post-Mubarak order. Despite all this, there is still plenty o

only forces set free by the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak. One leading liberal politician told me last week that he had been barely aware of Salafism until after the revolution. Suddenly, Salafi spokesmen are all over the media and are organising politically. By some reckonings they could get 5 p

e of the restrictive terms. Borrowing from international organizations may not come easy either. For the past six months, Egypt has negotiated with the International Monetary Fund for a $3.2 billion loan without being able to close the deal. Lack of internal political consensus over the loan (a condition set by the IMF) is sa

rms the vanguard of this new "Cultural Revolution": It aims however not to contain, but simply to displace traditional Sunnism with the culture of Salafism. Unlike the Brotherhood, this element, whose influence is growing exponentially - thanks to a flood of Gulf dollars - has no political ambitions wi

ects the U.S. to grow by just 2 percent in 2012. China will grow four times faster EFTA00712965 than that; India three times faster. By 2017, the International Monetary Fund predicts, the GDP of China will overtake that of the United States. Meanwhile, the fiscal train wreck has already initiated a process of steep cuts

nter threats from Iran. But there is something dreadfully wrong with tying America's future position in the region to the birthplace and bastion of Salafism and its warped vision of a new order. Robin Wright the author of "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World," is a fellow at th