Egypt's upcoming general election could help to consolidate its nascent democracy and provide legitimacy to the government's efforts to address the social, political, economic, and security challenges facing the country.
But no election, however successfully conducted, will be enough: Unless Egypt overcomes its current political polarization and builds a broad consensus that includes ruling Islamists and the secular opposition, its problems will persist, jeopardizing the prospect of a democratic future.
Egypt's lack of strong democratic institutions and its ongoing economic crisis are fueling social unrest and crisis, division, and hostility within the political system. At the same time, insufficiently trained and inadequately supervised police and security forces have become targets of public anger, and Egypt's security may collapse.