Arab Spring Tetris

A huge thanks to Håkon Dreyer and Karl Sharro at Foreign Policy for yet another way to procrastinate: “Dictatoris The Arab Spring Tetris.” Play your favorite 1980s Soviet-imported video game with the likes of Muammar Gadaffi. Good luck focusing.

The world according to Egypt’s SCAF

Cartoon by Carlos Latuff

The confusion surrounding the coming Egyptian presidential election could renew the prospects of additional confrontation and a delayed democratic transition, according to a new report by the International Crisis Group. The organization’s study analyzes what many Egyptians fear most: SCAF’s increasingly unpredictable role in the transition to democracy.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is locked in the middle of the fight for Egyptian power, the report says, and it must take fast action to ensure a safe and punctual transfer to civilian power. Most troubling is SCAF’s position between competing powerbrokers – namely liberal protesters who led the Jan. 25 Revolution and Islamist political actors attempting to control its end result.

Egypt: 5 reasons you need to stay tuned

Protesters jammed Tahrir Square Friday (Moises Saman/The New York Times)

A piece in the latest Economist argues that  the recent disqualification of 10 candidates from Egypt’s coming presidential election will make for a “duller but safer race.” The edition obviously went to print before tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in Tahrir Square Friday to protest military rule.

True, the elimination of three of the race’s frontrunners – Khairat el-Shater, Hazem Abu Ismail and Omar Suleiman – closes countless doors. But that’s not to say the month remaining before the May 23-24 elections will be anything but exciting. Making matters more intriguing is the unknown path to full civilian control of government – now slated for June 30.

The president-elect will eventually face a tall task. Here are five reasons the volatile Egyptian political climate is in no way cooling down.