The Fingers of the “Invisible Hand”: Egypt’s Government Institutions

While Egypt’s government institutions are formally independent, they in fact operate under the directives of the “deep state.” The Egyptian Armed Forces (EAF) in particular intervene in the country’s governance whenever generals deem it necessary. This chapter understands the EAF as the “invisible hand” behind the country’s central institutions, using them as “fingers” to steer daily politics. It analyses how the presidency, ministries, parliament, the judiciary and local councils function under such conditions, and how the “securitization of policymaking” has led to an eventual “depoliticization of policymaking”: political considerations are secondary to decision-making, which is instead guided by an attempt to protect the EAF’s manifold privileges.