Lse Middle East Centre Podcasts

Civilian state-owned enterprises in Egypt are in trouble, but military companies are being used to expand the state's stake in the economy. In this talk, Yezid Sayigh will explore the ramifications of this military economy, and how it makes it easier to shift costs and hide losses to the public purse, while continuing to secure the core constituencies of the administration of President Abdel-Fattah Sisi and his governing coalition in the civilian bureaucracy and, especially, the military. Yezid Sayigh is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where he leads the program on Civil-Military Relations in Arab States (CMRAS). His work focuses on the comparative political and economic roles of Arab armed forces and nonstate actors, the impact of war on states and societies, and the politics of postconflict reconstruction and security sector transformation in Arab transitions, and authoritarian resurgence. Previously, Sayigh held teaching and research positions at King’s College London, the Un