Browsing by Subject "Muslim Brotherhood"
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Item Accommodationist Islamist political organizations : authoritarian settings and US foreign policy(2020-05-09) Wolfson, Aaron Jacob; Ayoub, Samy A.Islamist parties tend to be the most developed political parties in authoritarian Middle Eastern and North African states. When elections are called for, Islamist groups historically outperform their competitors to win seats in parliaments and effectively compete for executive office when applicable. In lieu of designating a broad group of ideologies as “terrorism,” the US needs to develop an understanding of their goals and behavior so that it can engage with these groups effectively. Doing so would be to the benefit of the states Islamist groups represent and US interests within those areas. Through use of some primary, but mostly secondary literature, this research seeks to show how these groups should be understood and, thus, engaged. Under authoritarian regimes Islamist groups seek a balance between action and survival. When participating in democratic mechanisms of governance Islamist groups tend to cooperate with groups of other ideologies, showing a general trend of moderation. However, moderation is not guaranteed, and instances exist showing that radicalization may be more likely in certain conditions, especially when Islamist-Islamist cooperation is democratically viable. The report focuses on three groups in the Middle East and North Africa during the late 20th - early 21st centuries; al-Wefaq (al-Bahrain, 2001-2016), the Justice and Development Party (Morocco, 1997-2017), and the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, 1981-2013). Each case provides a different political and social context, showing how groups of similar Islamist ideologies reacted to their political and social realities. The report finds that the United States needs to develop an understanding of political Islamism within certain contexts, especially in contrast to its radical relatives. Conflation of the two will neither enhance US interests in the region nor prevent the ascendancy of Islamist groups in states with democratic mechanisms of governance. Rather, acceptance and willingness to work from good faith will need to be the lynchpin of American foreign policy. Finally, regional concerns will need to be considered, but should not outweigh local concerns. The US must be aware of the concerns of allies such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Israel over Islamist success, but should not defer to these states in making policyItem Exit, voice, and Islamic activism : organizational fracture and the Egyptian Society of the Muslim Brothers(2011-05) Brooke, Steven Thomas; Brownlee, Jason, 1974-; Moser, Robert G.Under what conditions does the Egyptian Society of the Muslim Brothers (SMB) fracture? The 1996 formation of the Wasat party by a group of former Muslim Brothers has attracted significant scholarly attention, although most studies focus on the ideological differences between the groups. By neglecting the organizational angle these studies are unable to explain why some ideological differences lead to group fracture, and why in the case of the SMB this occurred in 1996 and not before. This paper will argue that the SMB splits when high levels of state repression combine with internal organizational conflict, specifically the lack of stable, consultative internal dispute-resolution mechanisms. Empirical tests charting levels of state repression and SMB internal politics throughout the period 1981-2010, covering variation on the dependent, as well as both independent variables, strengthen the theory.Item The making of moderates : U.S. relations with Islamist movements in Morocco and Egypt(2010-05) Buehler, Matthew J.; Brownlee, Jason, 1974-; Henry, ClementThe academic literature on Islamist moderation offers several explanations for why some Islamist political movements are moderate and others radical. These theories focus on the movements' ideology, tactics, and internal democracy. Few accounts address, however, how an Islamist movement's relations with external powers influence this outcome. This paper finds that "moderation" reflects an Islamist movement's relationship of compliance or defiance with external powers rather than its essential organizational characteristics. In comparing the Moroccan Justice and Development Party (PJD) with the Egyptian Muslim Brothers, it explores why the United States has built good relations with the former but not with the latter. Employing approximately 20 interviews conducted with Islamists, U.S. diplomats, and Moroccan experts in 2009, I show that the PJD's compliance with U.S. foreign policy decisions and interests helps to shape perceptions that the movement is more moderate than its Egyptian counterpart, despite the two movements' similar ideology, tactics, and internal practices.