Egypt’s Military Governments as a Tool for Regime Security and Its Impact on Economic Stability

Abstract

Egyptian military has successfully shaped the transition process and strengthened its role following Mubarak ousting. Therefore, whoever the president is, Egypt will rely heavily on the military response in every political and economic policy. For President Sisi, he needs military endorsement to remain in power safely amidst the regime’s vulnerability to internal threats due to the regime’s lack of public support and high repressive actions. The paper finds that internal threats to Sisi’s regime entail influential actors or groupsof opposition (Moslem Brotherhood) and rebellion (Takfiri) groups in north Sinai. To deal with the threats, Sisi’s military government takes high repressive actions to opposition figures, cuts off the supply of basic needs and imposes strict checkpoints to rebels-held areas in Sinai. Sisi’s regime security strategies negatively affect democratization process. However, it does not mean that democracy consolidation in Egypt has failed. A state, in some cases, needs to go through more than three election cycles to consolidate democracies. Under a military government with a high level of repression, the Egyptian economy is growing steadily and achieves stability, especially in Sisi’s second presidential term.