subtitled the land of the pharoahs on the brink of a revolution, john r. bradley‘s inside egypt is a damning summary of contemporary post revolutionary egypt-

a country from which almost all the young people long to escape, their last hope for a better future to leave their loved ones and travel in search of work and dignity.

although the book doesn’t offer much new to those who even casually follow egyptian news, it’s a good introduction to political failings of the country since the 1952 coup d’etat. the book sets out to dismiss the widely held (abroad – it’s written predominantly for a foreign readership) belief that the moslem brotherhood is genuinely popular (and waiting in the wings to take the country over post-mubarak). the book also sets out to critique the mubarak era and here it is overwhelmingly (though perhaps not overly) negative. bradley also attempts to re-position an increasingly sidelined egypt as an important battleground for establishing a modern middle eastern state not least because:

an egyptian is born every twenty-three seconds, pushing the total population, including those living abroad, to seventy-six million. that means one in four arabs is now an egyptian.

bradley paints a picture of a regime primarily occupied with its own survival with little energy left to actually plan for building a nation that:

continues to increase dramatically spending on the military, while cutting spending on social services such as education and health care.

this in a country that has universally abysmal healthcare and education! incompetence is another recurrent theme in his assessment and how could it not be. consider how the tourist-dependent country’s history and primary tourism driver is mismanaged:

traditionally a classic example of egyptian disorganization on a grand scale, the museum in downtown cairo has provided the setting for a pillaging of the country’s heritage on an almost unimaginable scale.

in egypt it’s difficult to tell where incompetence ends and corruption begins though. one of the revolution’s stated aims and successes was free education for all which is now closer to free non-education for all (at least for the majority of egyptians enrolled in public schools).

egyptians now reportedly spend about $2.4 billion annually on private tutoring.

to put that in context, that is a sum larger than the annual aid egypt received from the us as a reward for the fake-peace with israel. this staggering figure is a result of one of the revolution’s unachievable over-promises and is emblematic of egypt’s predicament. incompetence and corruption are so intertwined in the system that then necessarily needs to apply almost all its energies controlling a frustrated and abused populace.

bradley focuses on his main thesis: that the popularity of the moslem brotherhood is magnified. this may be true but as bradley freely admits the threat (and he does seem them as such) of them assuming power is inflated by their status as the sole, well-organized opposition group operating in egypt. bradley also fails to substantiate his claims that a moslem brotherhood takeover would be a catastrophe resulting in a saudi or iran like future. as a force for evil. his primary argument here seems to be that their statements are too vague and that they would lean towards a strict fundamentalist wahabbi interpretation of islam and sharia. bradley does illuminate the ikhwan’s complicity in the current status quo whereby they are aggrandized by the regime in order to keep the us and europe from pushing too hard for true democratic (or otherwise) reform. he also shows that the organization’s grass roots support comes primarily from their charity / social work (building hospitals, schools etc) rather than religious resonance. they are astute at turning the egyptians’ frustration to their advantage though:

we’ll think about the afterworld, because there is no hope

i would have liked a more convincing expose of the brotherhood than bradley manages. perhaps their strategy of vagueness is effective or perhaps they are not the threat to a democratic future so many of us fear. this book has no definitive answers.

there is a harrowing chapter on the state of torture in egypt. at times i had to put the book down – the visuals in my head were so starck. torture is discussed in its physical and mental forms:

when you expose people to so much mental torture, to so many stresses in life, they start to withdraw into a state of helplessness and hopelessness. this makes you indifferent – ahmed okasha [president of the egyptian psychiatric association]

insideegyptit seems physical, sexual and frankly inhumane torture methods are uncaringly used by the egyptian secret service for the pettiest of crimes or even in the absence of crime (mistaken identities or random police pick-ups are examples bradely gives).

the chapters on bedouins, luxor, sufis and christians were revealing. i learnt that luxor was a global center of male prostitution (gay and straight)! and that the brotherhood’s flavor of islam is not one that is a natural fit for the rural traditions. sinai’s no-mans land status was put into its historical context. whatever the plight of cairenes may be it seems those outside of the capital are even more marginalized and desperate.

the final chapters deal with a post-mubarak (sr!) egypt. gamal mubarak, heir apparent, is also dismissed unconvincingly. all we are told for certain is that he is undeniablely unpopular. bradley’s conclusion? egypt is ripe for another revolution (right on cue – 1919, 1952, 1977 all mark major popular uprisings). he regularly compares today’s egypt to that of the last days of king farouk and the shah. time will tell i guess. regardless of whether the predictions play out, this is a great, succinct summary of the many ills facing modern egypt and its unfortunate people:

the ability of the egyptians to sudder impresses and depresses.

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