A revolution undone : Egypt's road beyond revolt

287 Pages·2016·2.056 MB·English

by  H.A. Hellyer

Dr H.A. Hellyer is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Rafik Hariri Centre for the
Middle East at the Atlantic Council in DC and an Associate Fellow in International
Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. His insights on
current events in the Arab World, Europe, and Muslim communities worldwide are
regularly sought by the international media networks such as CNN, BBC and
Al-Jazeera, with several hundred op-eds for publications including The Washington Post,
Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Guardian, The National (Abu Dhabi), and Daily
News Egypt.
Prior to joining the Council, Dr Hellyer was a nonresident Fellow at the Centre for
Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in DC and Research Associate at the
JFK School of Government at Harvard University. He also served as the first Arab
world-based Senior Practice Consultant at the Gallup Organisation, where he anal-
ysed public opinion data in a variety of countries in the Arab world and the West.
During his tenure at the University of Warwick (UK) as Fellow and then Senior
Research Fellow, he was appointed as Deputy Convenor of the UK Government’s
Taskforce for the 2005 London bombings, and served as the Foreign & Common-
wealth Office’s first Economic and Social Research Council Fellow as part of the
‘Islam’ & ‘Counter-Terrorism’ teams.
Alongside his analytical career, Dr Hellyer has held positions at noted institutions
including the University of Warwick, the American University in Cairo, and the
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies of the University of Oxford, where he authored
several books and monographs & has contributed more than twenty-five book chap-
ters and journal articles to various presses. Recent publications include Muslims of
Europe: The ‘Other’ Europeans for Edinburgh University Press and Engagement with
the Muslim Community & Counter-Terrorism: British Lessons for the West for
Brookings Institution Press.
Dr Hellyer’s degree in law was read at the University of Sheffield School of Law, with
an advanced degree in international political economy at the University of Sheffield’s
Department of Politics. He completed a multidisciplinary PhD at the University of
Warwick as an Economic and Social Research Council scholar, and researched Islamic
thought with traditionally trained specialists in the UK, Egypt, Malaysia and South
Africa.
www.hahellyer.com
‘H.A. Hellyer is eminently qualified to inform, and interpret these punishing years
since 2011 which have polarised Egypt and left many searching for certainties.
There’s an academic’s rigour, a pollster’s precision, and a journalist’s compelling
anecdotes in his chronicle of Egypt’s “unfinished revolution.” Committed to the prin-
ciples of that peaceful protest, he doesn’t shirk from holding everyone to account:
from the revolutionaries who failed to follow through; the Muslim Brotherhood
which fell from grace and power; and a military which played a pivotal role through-
out. Egypt’s story is still being written. But five years on, this book puts down an
important marker.’
Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC
‘Attempting to follow the extraordinary tumult in Egypt has often felt like wading
through a dense fog. It takes an assured and skilful navigator to plot a constructive
path through the gloom and shine a light where it is needed most. Hellyer is just such
a navigator: thoughtful, perceptive and above all committed to the promise of revolu-
tion, even as he spells out with intellectual honesty and historical nuance where those
fighting for a more democratic Egypt have gone wrong. His analysis is an antidote to
lazy stereotypes and reductive binaries, and today it is more important than ever.’
Jack Shenker, former Egypt correspondent for
The Guardian; author of The Egyptians: A Radical Story
‘H.A. Hellyer has written an inimitable book. Specialists and general readers alike
will benefit hugely from the accounts exquisitely related by an insider and a fair
observer in one. Hellyer’s organic link to Egypt and consciously impartial perspective
produce a unique combination that we should appreciate, as many of the books pub-
lished on the subject tend to lean towards one view or one side. His writings have
long made clear his consistent and balanced insight—and in this book, Hellyer lets
no one off the hook, calling all to account.’
Hassan Hassan, Associate Fellow of Chatham House; author of the
New York Times bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror
‘A Revolution Undone represents the most authoritative, thoughtful, and nuanced
account to date of Egypt’s 2011 revolution and its aftermath. The book is replete with
the kind of unique insight that emerges only from direct proximity to the events it
describes. Hellyer’s is a voice of studious integrity, allowing the book to achieve the
near impossible when it comes to analysing Egyptian politics today: balance and
perspective. A bold, defining, and—ultimately—hopeful statement on the Arab
Spring that should be read by anyone interested in the future of the Middle East.’
Peter Mandaville, Professor of International Affairs at
George Mason University; author of Islam and Politics
‘Throughout the tumultuous events of 2011–2015, H.A. Hellyer has been a lucid but
hardly dispassionate analyst. Now he has written a book presenting that period that
draws on the same assets as his contemporaneous analyses: he writes from the heart
but without losing a touch of his clear-headed thinking. Those who remember only a
confused tumble of events will find a sure guide, but even those who recall these
events well will learn from his book.’
Nathan J Brown, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at
George Washington University
‘It is hard to imagine a better qualified analyst of recent Egyptian history than H.A.
Hellyer: a British political scientist of Egyptian heritage, conversant in the modern
history of Islamic thought, equipped with the most credible public opinion polling,
well-connected with a broad circle of activists and diplomats, and a Cairo resident
who personally lived through the upheavals of both 2011 and 2013. Hellyer started
out cautious about the first protests in 2011 but he came to identify what he calls
Egypt’s “revolutionary current” as its best hope, and his honest and probing account
of those events will be a great resource for future students of that history.’
David D. Kirkpatrick, correspondent forThe New York Times
and its Cairo bureau chief from 2011–2015
‘H.A. Hellyer has written a deeply knowledgeable and personal set of reflections on
the Egyptian revolution and its grim aftermath. It is impossible to read this book and
not come away with a sense of the spirit that drove the young people of Tahrir Square
in the early days of 2011, and which drives many Egyptians still. Many books have
been written with the words “Egypt” and “Revolution” in their titles, but this is the
only one worth reading.’
Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Associate Professor of International Relations at
Harvard University; author of Counting Islam: Religion, Class and Elections in Egypt
‘A Revolution Undone combines in the most revealing of ways both the author’s partici-
patory observations and his analytical skill in tackling questions of politics, religion
and human rights. This is a persuasive analysis of the structural realities hindering
democratic governance in this most populous country in the Middle East.’
Amr Hamzawy, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration
at the American University in Cairo; author of A Marginfor Democracy in Egypt:
The Story of An Unsuccessful Transition
‘To see Egypt through H.A. Hellyer’s eyes is to observe with rare immediacy the
turmoil, excitement, lost hopes, and ultimate uncertainty since the heady days of
protest in 2011. Engagé but never one-sided, affecting but also clear-headed, he
powerfully demonstrates how an Islamist right and authoritarian military have each
tried to highjack the post-Mubarak order. That this will be a successful revolution in
the long term depends, in this eloquent and unflinching analysis, on whether the
precipitating search for dignity is not betrayed.’
James Piscatori, Professor of International Relations, Durham University
‘Hellyer combines an engaging personal memoir with insightful and balanced analy-
ses to present a clear portrayal of the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt. His account
departs from the all-too-common treatment of the major elements as monolithic,
and instead, provides an understanding of the complex mosaic of Arab Spring politics
in Egypt. One strength of his analysis is his coverage of the evolution of coverage of
the changing political scene. As he shows, observers played important roles in con-
structing the various narratives of the revolution. In the growing library of books on
the Arab Spring, Hellyer provides a refreshingly intimate perspective that will be of
use to all interested in twenty-first century political developments.’
John Voll, Professor Emeritus of Islamic History, Center for
Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University
‘Part personal narrative, part contemporary history, H.A. Hellyer’s A Revolution
Undone provides a brilliant, gripping account of Egypt’s 2011 revolution and its after-
math. Told from the unique perspective of someone who lived through and bore
witness to these historic events, the book is most notable for its analytical and moral
clarity. Ultimately, the author’s conclusion is an uplifting one: the young revolution-
aries who flooded Tahrir Square may have failed to change the political order in
Egypt, but the idea of the revolution continues to inspire and have resonance in that
country and far beyond.’
Stephen R. Grand, Executive Director, The Middle East Strategy Task Force,
The Atlantic Council; author of Understanding Tahrir Square
A REVOLUTION UNDONE

H. A. HELLYER
A Revolution Undone
Egypt’s Road Beyond Revolt
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
H. A. Hellyer.
A Revolution Undone: Egypt’s Road Beyond Revolt.
ISBN: 9780190659738
Printed in India on acid-free paper