“Egypt may be working with the North Koreans on the contravention of sanctions that apply to North Korea. The thinking is almost certainly that if you’re going to do the waiver…[lawmakers] are going to ask the State Department to argue why.”
“That [Egypt is] continuing to stonewall and obfuscate and pursue this course of action [regarding military relations with North Korea] indicates they think they can get away with it, and whatever price will be imposed on them will be bearable.”
“The fact that several of these would-be candidates came from the military was even more apparently threatening to him, and so using a variety of measures…the Egyptian authorities have managed to…disqualify [them] on very shaky grounds.”
“He was erratic, conspiratorial in nature and harbored a lot of anti-American suspicions. He believes that the 2011 uprising was the result of an external conspiracy rather than internal upheaval.”
“The public remarks in which the US government expresses concern are a necessary precondition. It serves as a signal of how much we care about the status of those individuals. It also helps to create a sense within Egypt that this is a real problem.”
“Egypt and its lobbyists go to huge lengths to put forth the narrative that the country deserves special treatment because of its terrorism threat and its alleged irreplaceable regional role. But no amount of PR can change the reality inside Egypt.”
“The Egyptians have failed to acknowledge that ISIS is not just a terrorism threat. Killing terrorists is not sufficient. They need to deprive ISIS of local support, which is rooted in Cairo’s historical neglect of the Sinai.”
“Getting rid of the mayors might bring fresh blood, but it is more likely to be Erdogan loyalists, which doesn’t solve the basic problem of demonstrating to wavering supporters that the AKP can still connect with their needs and concerns.”