Strategic Assessment

From the beginning of his presidency – and particularly since his second term of office began in June 2018 – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has promoted an official campaign to shape Egyptian national identity and create a “new Egyptian.” Various actors are part of the campaign, which has received much coverage in the established media and in conferences dedicated to the young generation. An analysis of the campaign reveals two main themes: first, the “new Egyptian” is conceptualized as an antithesis to “the Islamist other”; second, the Egyptian identity is built as a rich mosaic composed of seven pillars – Pharaonic, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Islamic, Arab, Mediterranean, and African. The official identity discourse decries the clear preference that the Muslim Brotherhood attributes to the Islamic layer of Egypt’s character, and is intent on uniting the Egyptian public around the regime’s political, economic, and social agenda and improving its international image. Yet despite the regime’s efforts to inculcate a new identity, its messages are challenged by competing forces, and it is too early to assess to what extent they are internalized by the general Egyptian public.