How Egypt stays Egypt

FRONT PAGE: "Muslim Brotherhood Falters As Egypt Outflanks Islamists," by Yaroslav Trofimov, Wall Street Journal, 15 May 2009.

The Muslim Brotherhood appears to be faltering badly in Egyptian politics. Part of it is the persistent repression by Mubarak's government (yea, emergency rule!), but much of it is the Brotherhood's own fault, so says this article.

The MB scared off a lot of supporters by talking of wars and proposing restrictions on women and Christians.

And so the Brotherhood is feeling down, with self-criticism running high.

Apparently, the MB's vigorous support to Hamas and heated anti-Israeli rhetoric doesn't engage your average Egyptian as much of a way forward for this largest Arab state (81 million).

The Brotherhood, by the way, has been at it for 81 years--an amazing record in terms of both longevity and no serious success.

Guess Egypt is harder to radicalize that most people think--including myself.

But maybe Egyptians, like most people, just want more/better jobs and better lives for their children, and don't think the Brotherhood will do any better job than the Mubarak line--not exactly a high bar.

Comments

[joe Michels]

So Egypt is more evidence that fighting back against terrorists (i.e. emergency rule & persistent repression) actually works.

I suspect that "emergency rule" means locking up MB brothers and persistent repression means performing interrogations to find out more about the MB in Egypt. If so, then there it would be of no surprise to me.

[Tom Barnett]

It only works if there are no more terrorists.

If your policies create more terrorists, then all you achieve is a nasty standoff.

Not exactly a victory.

[Javaid Akhtar]

Maybe there is just a natural level either side of any policy.Repress and condense the threat into an underground hardcore.Open up and they get exposed to the daily grind of politics ( having to take a position on everything ) and they then condense into a minority political party.

[Louis Heberlein]

It might be easier to teach Peace Corps folks how to defend themselves and counterparts against violence than it is to teach standard military folks to use SysAdmin approach ... especially when listen to, observe and learn from your counterpart are so important from the start.

Oh Well!