Steven A. Cook: The Struggle for Egypt

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Steven A. Cook, Sabbagh Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion of his new book, "The Struggle for Egypt." Cook discusses the major actors in modern Egyptian history focusing on the military, the Muslim Brotherhood and the student movements. He identifies recurring patterns—the failure of the military to achieve equity and social justice under Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak; the continuing resilience of the Muslim Brotherhood in providing a meaningful national narrative while developing organizations that could meet the social welfare and religious needs of the Egyptian people; and the periodic emergence of student movements. Cook then identifies the flawed assumptions of U.S. policy in the thirty years following the Camp David Accords. He concludes with the key issues in the next stages: the writing of a new constitution, the military; and the deteriorating economic situation.