Epstein Secrets

' who counseled President Obama to forget George W. Bush's support of Middle Eastern democracy and cultivate our relations with regional despots like Hosni Mubarak, the Iranian mullahs and the younger Assad have been sent back to the benches in disgrace. Their counsel is now seen as both morally dubious and prag

king less democratic by the day; it looks more and more as if the Army used public unrest to block the HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031886 --- PAGE BREAK --- 12 Mubarak family's attempt to turn Egypt into a family possession. The Army has ruled Egypt since the overthrow of King Farouk, playing liberals and religious

_031886 --- PAGE BREAK --- 12 Mubarak family's attempt to turn Egypt into a family possession. The Army has ruled Egypt since the overthrow of King Farouk, playing liberals and religious conservatives off against each other. It looks set to go on doing that for some time to come. In Yemen, Bahrain and S

ften used soccer as a means of diverting the attention of the masses or controlling them. No Egyptian president has been as attached to the game as Hosni Mubarak was. He always attended the national team's matches and was often seen yelling advice to the players. His sons, Alaa and Gamal, fraternized with Eg

the national team's matches and was often seen yelling advice to the players. His sons, Alaa and Gamal, fraternized with Egypt's top players. Mr. Mubarak's propaganda machine made sure that before a match, supporters were treated to patriotic songs and sloganeering. These displays were useful for def

was presided over by General Mohammad Haidar Pasha, aide-de-camp to King Fuad I; in 1940, his successor granted the club permission to call itself "Farouk I" — after himself. Following the army coup of 1952, it was renamed Zamalek. Generally, soccer altercations in Egypt have a performative and entert

lt in Tunisia successfully ousted the old regime, the world reacted with amazement. Democracy from below in the Arab world? After the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's 30 year-old regime in Egypt, the heartland of the Middle East, amazement has turned into certainty. The Middle East has awakened and begun to ent

oints out, oil prices are driven both by current conditions and by future expectations. Oil markets don't like surprises. The sudden ousting of Mr Mubarak and the unrest in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Algeria (which between them supply a tenth of the world's oil) had added 20% to oil prices by the

was from and of the armed forces, the largest and most cohesive institution in Egypt, and part of the proud military tradition that overthrew King Farouk, ended British colonial influence, and brought independence under Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar el-Sadat, and Mubarak. Senior military officers initial

use their organizational skills to the disadvantage of other parties). Moreover, the Military Council announced it would not allow former President Mubarak or his family to leave Egypt, even for medical purposes, and prosecutors ordered the detention of the former President and his two sons, The Milita

the supreme arbiter in Syria. President Assad's reluctance to propose reform measures, contrary to what had earlier been promised by Vice President Farouk Alshara'a, indicates that the leadership is split between pragmatists and hardliners (the security apparatus). For the time being, President Assad s