Description
Book SynopsisExamines how and why the Mubarak regime managed to maintain control of Egypt for 30 years despite an ongoing fiscal crisis, and considers the relationship between public finance, politics, and the possibility for social and political change.
Trade Review"Samer Soliman's
The Autumn of Dictatorship: Fiscal Crisis and Political Change in Egypt Under Mubark was well-received in opposition circles when first published in Arabic in 2004. Critics of the regime welcomed the careful documentation of just how draining the immense security apparatus has been. . . How good it is to have these arguments placed on solid empirical ground. Evidence-based arguments in Middle East studies are a threatened species so this book should have a place on all our shelves."—Raymond William Baker,
Middle East Journal"Drawing on Western social science and financial data gleaned from the balance sheet of the Egyptian general budget, Soliman provides a rigorous analysis of the chronic fiscal crisis that has plagued Egypt since the mid-1980s . . . Soliman's thesis is simple and persuasive . . . [and] reveal[s] how much Western readers stand to gain from Arab scholarship."—Eugene Rogan,
Times Literary Supplement"Samer Soliman has followed the wise adage to 'follow the money as it shall lead you to the truth.' By tracing the authoritarian state's patterns of extraction and allocation, he helps us better to understand not only the workings of that state, but its consequences for economic growth, including the possible fostering of capitalism. His study is a valuable contribution to the political economy literature on Egypt and the Middle East more generally."—Robert Springborg, Naval Postgraduate School
"Soliman follows the money, using previously inaccessible data from Egyptian state budgets to make interesting and convincing arguments about the character of the Egyptian state and regime, and about authoritarian politics more generally. A serious and refreshing interrogation."—Samer Shehata, Georgetown University, author of
Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt"A first-rate analysis."—Joseph A. Kéchichian,
Gulf News
