A seminar with H.A. Hellyer, Senior nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council's RH Centre for the Middle East and Associate Fellow in International Security at the Royal United Services Institute, on his recent book, A Revolution Undone: Egypt's Road Beyond Revolt from Oxford University Press.
Followed by a book signing at the Harvard COOP bookstore, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square.
About the book
Amid the turbulence of the 2011 Arab uprisings, the revolutionary uprising that played out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square created high expectations before dashing the hopes of its participants. The upheaval led to a sequence of events in Egypt that scarcely anyone could have predicted, and precious few have understood: five years on, the status of Egypt’s unfinished revolution remains shrouded in confusion. Power shifted hands rapidly, first from protesters to the army leadership, then to the politicians of the Muslim Brotherhood, and then back to the army. The politics of the street has given way to the politics of Islamist-military détentes and the undoing of the democratic experiment. Meanwhile, a burgeoning Islamist insurgency occupies the army in Sinai and compounds the nation’s sense of uncertainty. A Revolution Undone blends analysis and narrative, charting Egypt’s journey from Tahrir to Sisi from the perspective of an author and analyst who lived it all. H.A. Hellyer brings his first-hand experience to bear in his assessment of Egypt’s experiment with protest and democracy.
Critical Praise
“H.A. Hellyer’s A Revolution Undone represents the most authoritative, thoughtful, and nuanced account to date of Egypt’s 2011 revolution and its aftermath. The book is replete with the kind of unique insight that emerges only from direct proximity to the events it describes. Hellyer’s is a voice of studious integrity, allowing A Revolution Undone to achieve the near impossible when it comes to analyzing Egyptian politics today: balance and perspective. I can think of no other observer of the country who has managed to remain in the heart of the fray while avoiding being captured by it. A bold, defining, and–ultimately–hopeful statement on the Arab Spring that should be read by anyone interested in the future of the Middle East.” — Peter Mandaville, Professor of International Affairs at George Mason University; author of “Islam and Politics”
“I’ve always trusted his analysis, non-partisan as its always been. This admirably fair-minded book does much to buttress that trust further.”
Murtaza Hussain, the Intercept
“…an inimitable book…lets no one off the hook, calling all to account.”
Hassan Hassan, Chatham House
About the author
A scholar and author focusing on politics, religion, and security studies, Dr H.A. Hellyer is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the RH Centre for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council in DC and Associate Fellow in International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He is also Professor (adjunct) at the Centre for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation, at the Universiti Teknologi in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His insights on current events in the Arab World, Europe, and Muslim communities worldwide are regularly sought by the international media networks such as CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera, with several hundred op-eds for publications like the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, the Guardian, Mada Masr, the Globe and Mail, the National, al-Jazeera and Daily News Egypt.
