Portside

Since the military ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi last July, followed by the brutal crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, the security establishment has emerged re-empowered, reinvigorated and out for revenge, cracking down on its opponents with unprecedented severity. Much of Egypt is awash in conformist state worship, fueled by the shrill narrative of a war on terror and the age-old autocratic logic that trades rights for the promise of security.

Last month's removal by the army of the Mohammed Morsi government and the subsequent bloody dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood camps in Cairo have provoked contradictory emotions about the situation in Egypt. This is the second time in as many years that the generals have acted. In both cases, it was unparalleled, insurrectionary-like mobilizations prompting them to strategically head off boundless anger against two discredited rulers in a row.