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Examining the Behaviour of the Egyptian Military During the 2011 Uprising

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Examining the Behaviour of the Egyptian Military During the 2011 Uprising Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. Guardians of the state or the regime? Examining the behaviour of the Egyptian military during the 2011 uprising. A thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Politics Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand Nadia Yousef 2012 Abstract The Arab military has long been a key player within the institutions of the state, particularly in Egypt. It was no surprise then that when the Arab Spring took hold in Cairo in January 2011 and President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, that the military stepped in to fill the power vacuum. This thesis investigates the role of the Egyptian military in the 2011 uprising. To understand how this situation eventuated, it provides an in depth analysis of the role of the military in the Egyptian state since 1952 when Egypt first became a republic. It explores the deep roots that the military has set throughout the institutions of the state under the guidance of three authoritarian Presidents. By examining the modern institutional history of the Egyptian military, it provides tools for understanding why it is now behaving in the way it is. Primarily this is based on its attempts to either remain in power, or entrench itself further in Egyptian politics so that it is able to maintain its position of privilege once a democratically elected President comes to power. Key words: Arab Spring, SCAF, Egypt, Military, New Institutionalism, Sultanistic regime, Non- democratic civil-military relations, Mubarak, Freedom and Justice Party, Muslim Brotherhood. Acknowledgements This thesis has been helped along with the support of several people that I must thank. My supervisors Dr. Matthew Henry and Dr. Nigel Parsons; your help, guidance, and support throughout this process, as well as all of my prior projects has been much appreciated. You have both taught me a lot and kept me motivated and interested in contemporary Middle Eastern politics. My wonderful husband Ross Wakefield and my parents Essam and Susan Yousef have been beacons of support throughout my six years at university. Your proof-reading, encouragement, and bribery to get me working when I lost motivation was incredible and I appreciate it no end. Thank you also to my friends Jessica Bignell and Alec McIntosh who took the time to proof-read, fact-check and share ideas about this project. Your effort and contribution helped me significantly in this journey. Thank you all, without you this would not have been possible. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Note on definitions ........................................................................................................ 7 1.2 Thesis structure .............................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2: Conceptual Framework........................................................................................ 11 2.1 The State ............................................................................................................................ 12 2.1.1 The capitalist theory of the state ................................................................................ 16 2.1.2 Sultanistic regimes ...................................................................................................... 17 2.1.3 The state and the monopoly of violence ..................................................................... 20 2.3 The Military ........................................................................................................................ 21 2.4 Civil-Military relations ........................................................................................................ 25 2.5 New Institutionalism .......................................................................................................... 33 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter 3: Methodology ...................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4: Egypt from the Monarchy to Mubarak ................................................................. 46 4.1 The 1952 Free Officers Movement and end of Egypt’s monarchy ..................................... 48 4.2 Nasser and the beginnings of the authoritarian military-based Egyptian regimes ............. 49 4.2.1 The 1956 Suez nationalisation and ensuing crisis........................................................ 51 4.2.2 Nasser and the socialist era ......................................................................................... 52 4.2.3 The Six-Day war with Israel ......................................................................................... 53 4.3 The Sadat era ..................................................................................................................... 54 4.3.1 Egypt’s economic restructuring under Sadat – the infitah policies ............................. 57 4.3.2 Egypt’s era of financial aid from the United States ..................................................... 59 4.4 Hosni Mubarak’s reign ....................................................................................................... 60 4.4.1 Egyptian military economic function ........................................................................... 66 4.4.2 Egypt under Emergency Law ....................................................................................... 69 4.4.3 Mubarak and the electoral process ............................................................................. 70 4.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 5: The Arab Spring ................................................................................................... 79 5.1 The role of the Egyptian military and the SCAF in the 2011 uprising ................................. 86 5.2 The SCAF after the honeymoon period .............................................................................. 89 5.3 The transition to Egypt’s uncertain future ......................................................................... 95 5.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 101 Chapter 6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 103 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 109 Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 117 Egypt’s provisional Constitution of 2011 ............................................................................... 117 Table of Figures: Figure 1: The structure of the Egyptian military, p. 63. Figure 2: The results of the 2011/2012 Egyptian Parliamentary elections, p. 97. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction On the 11th of February 2011, as a result of large-scale and persisting public demonstrations, Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would be stepping down as President and turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).12 Soon after, the military junta headed by the effective head of State, Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, released a Communiqué in which they announced that the Egyptian Constitution would be suspended, both houses of Parliament dissolved, and that the military would rule for six months until elections could be held.3 This was a pivotal point in Egyptian and Arab history: after 29 years in power Mubarak was unceremoniously removed from the Presidency and it seemed that Egypt ended almost 60 years of authoritarian military- based dictatorship. This thesis seeks to explain the circumstances that allowed for this situation to occur, and explores the behaviour of the Egyptian military and the SCAF in the context of the Egyptian social and political unrest of 2011 and 2012. The Middle East is currently in the midst of social upheaval with popular anti-Government protests spreading throughout much of the region as a result of frustration towards corrupt rulers and escalating social issues. Since the 18th of December, 2010, there have been uprisings resulting in the ousting of Governments in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya resulting in the fall of its regime; civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen; major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman, and minor protests in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Western Sahara. Clashes at the borders of Israel in May 2011 have also been inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Militaries have been key actors in these uprisings. Some militaries have supported the protesters such as in Tunisia, while others have violently opposed them as was the case in Libya, Bahrain and Syria. 4 5 1 The ‘Egyptian military’ as I use in this thesis encompasses the SCAF, Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Military Police, Para-military forces, and all conscripted soldiers. 2
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