[3] After finishing his doctoral studies and after five years of teaching in Cairo and Berlin, Hamzawy joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC between 2005 and 2009 as a senior associate for Middle East politics.

His research and teaching interests as well as his academic publications focus on democratization processes in Egypt, tensions between freedom and repression in the Egyptian public space, political movements and civil society in Egypt, contemporary debates in Arab political thought, and human rights and governance in the Arab world.

Hamzawy contributes a daily column and a weekly op-ed to the Egyptian independent newspaper Al Shorouk.

In 2012, Hamzawy was elected as a member of the Egyptian Parliament[4] (constituency Heliopolis, Badr City, Shorouk, Hikestep).

"[8] On 15 February 2012 Hamzawy married the Egyptian actress Basma Hassan at the Marriott Hotel in Cairo,[4] and divorced in 2019.