Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
The Arab Spring created opportunities for the region's Islamist movements. What are they making of their chance?
"The euphoric toppling of Hosni Mubarak last year has given way to a vexed, often violent and needlessly prolonged transition. Yet in its awkward, bumbling way, the most populous and influential Arab country is moving forward"
Islamists rising to the top in the Arab world speak of freedom, equality, democratic values. At the same time, they insist Islam is the basis for these freedoms. Does this allow for genuine religious freedom? Evidence suggests not
Islamists in the Arab world are benefiting from a democratisation they didn't trigger. Ghost of Islamic totalitarian state is raised, but is unlikely prospect. Islamists have changed. Political realism rules; Turkey's AKP inspires
On Islamism after the Arab Spring and electoral success. "It is not the convictions of political actors that shape their policies but the constraints to which they are subject." And Islamists are just as constrained as anyone else
The man who would rule Egypt, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, started political life as self-confessed extremist. Challenged Sadat, ended up in prison with Zawahiri and others. Later rose in Muslim Brotherhood. Then broke with it
Brotherhood must adapt quickly to face realities of power. "Remember, for 60 years we were working underground and now we've come out into the light and are staring directly into the sun. We're all blinking and rubbing our eyes"
Question of whether to confront or cooperate with the generals is causing tension within Muslim Brotherhood. One of the movement's most prominent figures, Mohamed Beltagy, sides firmly with the protesters. Worth goes to meet him
They're not "taking over" anywhere in fact. And nor, certainly, have Arabs chosen "the path of Islam", whatever that may mean. Here's a useful analysis of just what gains Islamist groups have made in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere
"As Aboul Fotouh has risen to front-runner status in the presidential election, he has become the Rorschach test of Egyptian politics. Liberals think he's more liberal than he actually is. Conservatives hope he's more conservative"
"The Islamists will not completely shed their fundamentally illiberal positions – but this doesn’t mean the Brotherhood can’t participate in a government that is accountable to citizens or enact real economic reforms"
Egyptians do not divide neatly into pro-Tahrir protest secularists and anti-Tahrir Islamists. Muslim Brotherhood favours stability, cooperation with generals; you don't have to be secular or anti-sharia to oppose that
Morocco avoided revolution, but how much reform has actually happened after a moderate Islamist prime minister was allowed to take office? In terms of reducing corruption and restructuring a cronyistic economy, not much
The heady days of the Arab Spring have come to an end. Sectarian warfare in Syria. Protests crushed in Bahrain. Dirty warfare in Yemen. Sharia law set to return in Libya. The great unknown is Egypt, still digesting its turmoil
At number one: The overthrow of Saddam Hussein helped inspire uprisings against authoritarian rulers elsewhere. Wrong. No Arabs see anything in Iraq they want to replicate. So who spearheaded the uprisings and who's benefiting?
Post-Mubarak Egypt hasn't turned into a battle between religious and secular parties, as some predicted. It's Islamists vs the military and, increasingly, Islamist (Muslim Brotherhood) vs Islamist (Salafist). Good sit-rep
Muslim Brotherhood party did best. No surprise there. They were the best organised. But now they want to govern, pitting them against Egypt's military rulers, who have their own interests to pursue. Future is fraught, murky
Morocco after parliamentary elections. "The victory of the Islamist-oriented PJD does not represent a fundamental rupture from past practices given that the party accepts the authoritarian privileges of the king" (PDF)
After the revolution. Visitor to post-Ben Ali Tunisia finds dangerous political polarisation. Formerly banned Islamist movement, al-Nahda, is resurgent. Talks the pluralist talk, but critics fear a hidden agenda
Outstanding analysis of Arab uprisings, looking ahead to what may follow. "Revolutions devour their children. The spoils go to the resolute, the patient, who know what they are pursuing and how to achieve it"
