Allegiance: Egypt security forces

• Main Author: Read, Christopher S.
• Other Authors: Baylouny, Anne-Marie
• Published: Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/38998

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. === In Egypt, opposition groups challenged the Mubarak Regime and toppled it. More than two years later, demonstrators against the military-backed government that deposed President Morsi were brutally put down and rule stayed with the junta. This thesis examines those events in Egypt and focuses on opposition tactics used and the response elicited from security force elements. It seeks to discover where, in 2011, security forces were not given or disobeyed the order to shoot protestors and, in 2013, ruthlessly followed that order. This thesis analyzes opposition tactics and questions whether those actions elicited loyalty shifts within security forces and how any such shifts impacted the ability to achieve political change. The thesis uses a synthesis of objectives developed by Anika Binnendijk, labeled the Five Strategic Objective framework, along with social movement theory as they apply it to challenger actions. To these the author adds foreign involvement and internal dynamics. Data is gathered through in-depth review of relevant documentation: published news, discussions, books, and reputable web sources. Analysis of the sources shows that in 2011, a broad based appeal generated sympathy within security forces that precluded obeying a shoot order and that such sympathy was not present in 2013