Sadat's open door and Mubarak's long rule
Sadat opens the economy and turns to America; after his assassination in 1981 Hosni Mubarak rules for thirty years under emergency law, bringing stability but also stagnation and corruption.
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
- Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David — Lawrence Wright, Alfred A. Knopf (2014)
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
After the October 1973 war, Anwar Sadat launched the infitah, the “open door”, inviting foreign investment and private business after two decades of Arab socialism. A new class grew rich quickly; many others did not. When the government cut bread subsidies in January 1977, riots swept the country and the cuts were cancelled within days. Sadat broke with the Soviet Union, made peace with Israel and moved Egypt into the American camp; US aid has flowed ever since.
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
- Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David — Lawrence Wright, Alfred A. Knopf (2014)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David — Lawrence Wright, Alfred A. Knopf (2014)
His vice-president, Hosni Mubarak, an air force commander, ruled for the next thirty years under a state of emergency. He fought an Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, including the massacre of 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, at Luxor in 1997, and kept the peace with Israel. The economy grew but so did slums, unemployment among graduates and corruption around his son Gamal’s business circle. Elections were managed, and the Muslim Brotherhood, banned but tolerated, built a vast social network in its place.
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
Why it matters today
Most Egyptians under fifty grew up under Mubarak. His era shaped today's Egypt: the alliance with the United States, the cold peace with Israel, a crony-capitalist economy, an Islamic revival in daily life, and a security state that made people afraid to speak. Its frustrations exploded in 2011, though some now remember it as a time of relative calm.