This post was written by Hatchet reporter Josh Griffith.

Egyptian author and journalist Ashraf Khalil recounted last year’s 18-day “siege” of Tahrir Square and pushed for a strict anti-corruption campaign in the Arab Spring’s aftermath Friday night at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Khalil spent nearly 15 years in the Middle East as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy magazine and The Times of London. He said he watched tension build until Egypt’s unrest became a full-fledged revolution that left the nation fragile and still shrouded in corruption.

“There is a distinct air of pessimism inside and outside Egypt,” he said at the event hosted by the Project on Middle East Political Science.

His book, called “Liberation Square: Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation” and published Jan. 3, offers a first-hand perspective on the uprising that he said has yet to stabilize the country.

Though the activist movement may have succeeded in removing former president Hosni Mubarak from power exactly one year ago, remnants of his regime persist in institutions like the Ministry of Interior, Khalil said.

He argued that public distrust in these institutions has been a roadblock to change. For example, he said, a riot that killed about 70 people during a soccer match 10 days ago demonstrates the lack of a legitimate security force.

There’s an economic downside to the destabilized country too, Kahlil added, saying that riots and protests deter tourism that brings in revenue necessary for the country’s growth.

Kahlil proposed a long-term “reprogramming” of the country in which trained civilians replace the corrupt officials who have climbed to power. An anti-corruption campaign that forces those politicians from office needs to take shape, he said, where “heads must roll on a massive scale.”

If progress stalls, protesters will have to return to Tahrir, he said.