Egypt’s interim government sworn in

HERE.

I’m in the United States right now and have thus fallen a bit out of touch with the ebb and flow of street emotion in Egypt. Anyway, we are now officially residents of Turkey, and I will be in Egypt only on university business in the future.

El Baradei is taking a pretty big risk here. If the civilian cabinet turns out to be nothing but a fig leaf for extended military rule, his reputation will take a hit. But other than among Morsi’s own people and a large segment of the Left, the removal of Morsi on July 3 remains wildly popular among Egyptians, who see it as an emergency step to prevent theocratic extremism and/or utter governmental ineptitude.

NABIL FAHMY, the new Foreign Minister, is one of our AUC Deans (of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy). He was perhaps best known for his work as Egypt’s Ambassador to the U.S. during the Bush years, a challenging job indeed. I worked with him for three years on the Provost’s Council, and he seems level-headed. He’ll have his work cut out for him, especially when dealing with countries such as Germany which adamantly opposed the military action against Morsi.