Egypt Expert from Stow Returning to the 'Gift of the Nile'

The world may have turned its focus away from Egypt, but Joshua Stacher of Stow hasn't.

The assistant professor of political science is watching the country closely as its political leadership works to move toward a more representative democracy.

"Everbody’s focused on Libya and Bahrain," Stacher said. "I’m still watching Egypt."

When the grassroots uprising began there in January, Stacher was invited five days later to an off-the-record meeting with White House security staffers. Stacher specializes in the study of authoritarian adaptation of Arab republican regimes and  social movements. He's published works on governance in Egypt and Syria as well as authoritarian elections, human rights and the Egyptian Society of Muslim Brothers.

The meeting with White House National Security Council members sparked a whirlwind of media interviews, speaking engagements and lectures for the 35-year-old Stow resident.

“Ever since the uprising in Egypt started, I’ve been contacted by a number of organizations, (media) outlets. I've just been asked all sorts of questions from what I think the military’s up to, to (former Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak’s personality, to if I think the Muslim Brotherhood has a role in the future of Egypt,“ Stacher said.

Stacher has a grant to spend the summer in Egypt, but he's returning to the country this month to continue work on his book, which examines the issue of governance in Egypt. Currently untitled, the book is under review by the Stanford University Press.

For Stacher, the main issue for Egyptians is to get the military — which has large interests in the nation's industries — to play a lesser role.

“It was a revolution, but it was an unfinished revolution," he said. "Now the hard part is, they’ve gotten rid of Mubarak, and they’ve got to figure out a way to get the military back in the barracks permanently. That’s the real challenge for the Egyptians coming up."

Stacher has been working on the book, which began as his dissertation, for almost seven years. It is tentatively titled Adapting Authoritarianism in Syria and Egypt. After spending a few days there this month, he'll be returning to Egypt again in the summer to add sections on the uprising and revolution to the book.

"I thought my book was done,” Stacher said.