Economics & Inequality Retirement Security Education Health Care Homeland Security Election Reform Media & Politics International Affairs TCF Project Sites: Donate to TCF Join our Listserv  Taking Note Home About TCF News Room Join our Listserv The Son Also Rises: Egypt's Looming Succession Struggle     Email    Printer-Friendly Michael Wahid Hanna, World Policy Journal, 9/12/2009 In July 2000, when Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father, the long-time Syrian strongman Hafez al-Assad, it marked a curious development in the authoritarian Arab order—a hereditary succession in an ostensibly democratic republic. While the Arab world had long been accustomed to such transitions in monarchical settings, this father- to-son transition prompted widespread discussion in the region, particularly in Egypt. As a visitor to Cairo later that summer, I vividly recall the public and private scoffing at the Syrian precedent. Today, those raised eyebrows have taken on more ominous overtones as Egyptians have increasingly come to believe that the country is headed towards a dynastic hand-off of its own. Download the PDF. Copyright 2010 The Century Foundation. Privacy Policy NY Office: 41 East 70th Street—New York, New York—10021—Phone:212-535-4441—212-879-9197 DC Office: 1333 H Street, NW—10th Floor— Washington, D.C. 20005— Phone: 202-387-0400— Fax: 202-483-9430