Icon: enlarge
Apparently wears the same sunglasses models as Joe Biden: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Photo: INQUAM PHOTOS / REUTERS
"When my doorbell rings early in the morning," Winston Churchill once said, "and I can assume it's the milkman, then I know that I live in a democracy." In Egypt, democrats and Islamists alike can do that do not know.
You'd better look through the spy before opening your door.
Ten years after the Arab Spring, which led to the overthrow of long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world is once again a flawless autocracy.
At the head of the strong state today is Abdelfattah el-Sisi, the man whom ex-US President Donald Trump once called his "favorite dictator".
At that time, a decade ago, the world gazed spellbound on the land on the Nile, which, unlike most of the countries in the region, did not come into being at the card table of the colonial powers, but which was "old when Rome shone, was old as Troy was taken «, as Theodore Roosevelt once put it.
A peaceful battle cry that is still relevant today: "Freedom, bread and dignity"
The demonstrators from Tahrir Square protested against the brutal repression by the ubiquitous security apparatus.
Their peaceful battle cry: "Freedom, bread and dignity".
The masses wanted to overthrow the corrupt and brutal Mubarak regime - on February 11, 2011, after more than two weeks of protests, hundreds of injured and dead, the time had come: Hosni Mubarak abdicated.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of € 19.99.
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you have to link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.