On Wednesday, September 28th, Justin Hoyle gave a SASA lunch talk titled “An Army of the People? The Politics of the Egyptian Military, 2011-2014”. Justin Hoyle is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at UF. The talk focused on Justin’s recent fieldwork in Egypt as part of his larger dissertation project on military behavior during transitions.
Justin is investigating the role of the military in the 2011 and 2013 political transitions in Egypt. Having previously received a MA from American University in Cairo, Justin spent July – August 2016 conducting pre-dissertation research expanding his existing contacts and interviewing both members of the military and relative non-military personnel. Despite the repressive environment in Egypt, Justin was able to interview a number of members of the military and political activists/journalists. In particular, Justin is exploring the reasons behind the differences in the military’s role in the 2011 (Mubarak, resigned) and 2013 (Morsi, deposed) political transitions. Initial conclusions from Justin’s research are that the military justifies its role in politics as the defenders of the people, whereas non-military actors tend to portray the military as a self-interested entity which acts on its own accord. Justin will continue to investigate these findings as he develops a dissertation research design comparing the role of the military in Egypt and Indonesia.