RSSSvi unosi označeni: "Egipat"

Sejid Kutb: The Karl Marx of the Islamic Revolution

Leslie Evans

Sejid Kutb (listopad 9, 1906-kolovoz 29, 1966), the Egyptian literary critic, philosopher, and theorist of the contemporary jihadist movement is only becoming a familiar name in the West in recent years, but his voluminous writings have had and continue to have enormous impact in the Muslim world. It is not an overstatement to say that it is hardly possible to understand the reasoning and goals of the Islamic militants without some familiarity with the outlook Qutb (pronounced KUH-tahb) enunciated.
A search of Amazon.com returns no less than seven books in English about Sayyid Qutb as well as collections of his writings and many of his own books in translation. The two works touched on here are only a random sampling of a very large literature which is again but a minute fraction of what exists in Arabic. These two are quite different in scope and attitude. Adnan Ayyub Musallam, a Palestinian native of Bethlehem, holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan
and is currently professor of history, politics, and cultural studies at Bethlehem University in the West Bank. His generally sympathetic but critical biography concentrates on the evolving politics of Qutb’s affiliations and thought. The quite brief and more critical piece by Paul Berman for the New York Times looks at Qutb’s theology and helps to clarify his argument with Christianity and Western secularism.
Brilliant from his earliest youth, Sayyid Qutb was an unlikely figure to serve as the inspiration for a global revolutionary movement. Although for a brief period he was a member of the militant Muslim Brothers, where he served as an editor not as an organizer, he spent most of his life as a lone intellectual. Where Marx, the theorist of world communism, labored in the British Museum, Sayyid Qutb wrote his most influential works in an Egyptian prison, where he spent most of the last eleven years of his life, until his execution by the Nasser government in 1966. Even his turn to Islam in any serious way did not take place until he was past forty, yet in prison in his fifties he produced a controversial rethinking of the religion that reverberates around the world.
Qutb was born in the village of Musha, between Cairo and Aswan into a family of small landowners. He was sent to the local madrasa, the government school, rather than the still more religious kuttab, the Islamic school, but he won a contest between the two schools for the best memorization of the Qur’an. He recalled his life there in his only biographical work, “Child from the Village,” recording local customs and superstitions. From that period he acquired a belief in the world of spirits that he carried with him all his life

In the Shadow of an Arab Caesar: Sayyid Qutb and the Radicalization of Modern Islamic Fundamentalism

Research

“We are the umma of the believers, living within a jahili society. As a community of believers we should see ourselves in a state of war with the state and the society. The territory we dwell in is the House of War.”1 These were the words of Sayyid Qutb in an Egyptian military court in April, 1966 before he and two of his companions were sentenced to death by hanging. The offense; conspiring against the government and plotting its overthrow, the evidence used by the state prosecutors in the trial, besides ‘confessions,’ a book, Qutb’s final piece of literature, Ma‘alim fi al-Turuq, Signposts.2 This study does not set out to be a thorough analysis of the political and religious ideology of Sayyid Qutb. Rather it is an attempt to identify the political and social climate in Egypt as the primary motivation which led to the development of Qutb’s radical interpretations of Islam. Notions of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism dominated the political discourse of Qutb’s Egypt and hearts and minds were enraptured by promises of its populist leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. This chapter in Arab history from the early 1950’s until the late 1960’s is etched in historical memory as the era of pan-Arabism. Međutim, it was also a vital period in the evolution of fundamentalist Islam into its more radical form which first expressed itself in the 1970’s and is until today at the base of radical fundamentalist Islamic thought worldwide. This piece will
demonstrate the principal role played by Sayyid Qutb in this transformation and reveal that radical interpretations of Islam were given impetus to develop in Egypt during this period due to the nature of Nasser’s regime

Political Islam in the Middle East

Jesu li Knudsen

This report provides an introduction to selected aspects of the phenomenon commonly

referred to as “political Islam”. The report gives special emphasis to the Middle East, u

particular the Levantine countries, and outlines two aspects of the Islamist movement that may

be considered polar opposites: democracy and political violence. In the third section the report

reviews some of the main theories used to explain the Islamic resurgence in the Middle East

(Figure 1). In brief, the report shows that Islam need not be incompatible with democracy and

da postoji tendencija zanemarivanja činjenice da su mnoge zemlje Bliskog istoka bile

sudjelovao u brutalnom gušenju islamističkih pokreta, uzrokujući ih, neki tvrde, uzeti

oružjem protiv države, a rjeđe, strane zemlje. Korištenje političkog nasilja je

raširena na Bliskom istoku, ali nije ni nelogičan ni iracionalan. U mnogim slučajevima čak

Islamističke skupine poznate po korištenju nasilja pretvorene su u miroljubive političke

stranaka koje su se uspješno natjecale na općinskim i nacionalnim izborima. Usprkos tome, islamista

oživljavanje na Bliskom istoku ostaje djelomično neobjašnjeno unatoč brojnim teorijama koje nastoje

objasniti njegov rast i popularnost. Općenito, većina teorija drži da je islamizam a

reakcija na relativnu deprivaciju, osobito društvene nejednakosti i političkog ugnjetavanja. Alternativa

teorije traže odgovor na islamistički preporod unutar granica same religije i

snažan, evokativni potencijal religijskog simbolizma.

Zaključak govori u prilog nadilaženja pristupa "mraka i propasti" koji

prikazuje islamizam kao nelegitiman politički izraz i potencijalnu prijetnju Zapadu ("Star

islamizam”), i nijansiranijeg razumijevanja trenutne demokratizacije islamističkog

pokreta koji se sada odvija diljem Bliskog istoka (“Novi islamizam”). Ovaj

u prvi plan se stavlja važnost razumijevanja ideoloških korijena “novog islamizma”.

zajedno s potrebom za temeljitim poznavanjem islamističkih pokreta i njihovih iz prve ruke

pristaše. Kao društveni pokreti, Tvrdi se da treba staviti veći naglasak na

understanding the ways in which they have been capable of harnessing the aspirations not only

of the poorer sections of society but also of the middle class.

STRATEGIJE ZA ANGAŽIRANJE POLITIČKOG ISLAMA

ŠADI HAMID

AMANDA KADLEC

Politički islam je danas najaktivnija politička snaga na Bliskom istoku. Njegova je budućnost usko povezana s budućnošću regije. Ako su Sjedinjene Države i Europska unija predani podršci političkih reformi u regiji, trebat će osmisliti beton, koherentne strategije za angažiranje islamističkih skupina. Još, sad. općenito nije bio voljan otvoriti dijalog s tim pokretima. Na sličan način, Angažman EU-a s islamistima bio je izuzetak, nije pravilo. Gdje postoje kontakti niske razine, oni uglavnom služe u svrhe prikupljanja informacija, ne strateški ciljevi. Sad. i EU imaju niz programa koji se bave gospodarskim i političkim razvojem u regiji – među njima i Bliskoistočna partnerska inicijativa (MEPI), korporacija Millennium Challenge (MCC), uniji za Mediteran, i Europska politika susjedstva (ENP) – ali imaju malo toga za reći o tome kako se izazov islamističke političke opozicije uklapa u šire regionalne ciljeve. NAS. a pomoć i programiranje demokracije EU-a gotovo su u potpunosti usmjereni ili na same autoritarne vlade ili na sekularne skupine civilnog društva s minimalnom podrškom u vlastitim društvima.
Sazrelo je vrijeme za preispitivanje trenutne politike. Od terorističkih napada u rujnu 11, 2001, podupiranje demokracije na Bliskom istoku postalo je važnije za zapadne kreatore politike, koji vide vezu između nedostatka demokracije i političkog nasilja. Veća pažnja posvećena je razumijevanju varijacija unutar političkog islama. Nova američka administracija otvorenija je za širenje komunikacije s muslimanskim svijetom. U međuvremenu, velika većina glavnih islamističkih organizacija – uključujući Muslimansko bratstvo u Egiptu, Jordanski front islamske akcije (IAF), Marokanska stranka pravde i razvoja (PJD), Islamski ustavni pokret Kuvajta, i Jemenska stranka Islah – potporu političkim reformama i demokraciji sve više čine središnjom komponentom svojih političkih platformi. U Dodatku, mnogi su signalizirali snažan interes za otvaranje dijaloga sa SAD-om. i vlade EU.
Budućnost odnosa između zapadnih nacija i Bliskog istoka može biti uvelike određena stupnjem do kojeg prve angažiraju nenasilne islamističke stranke u širokom dijalogu o zajedničkim interesima i ciljevima. Nedavno je došlo do proliferacije studija o angažmanu s islamistima, ali malo ih se jasno bavi što bi to moglo značiti u praksi. As Zoé Nautré, gostujući suradnik u Njemačkom vijeću za vanjske odnose, stavlja ga, “EU razmišlja o angažmanu, ali zapravo ne zna kako.”1 U nadi da će razjasniti raspravu, razlikujemo tri razine „angažmana,” svaki s različitim sredstvima i ciljevima: kontakti niske razine, strateški dijalog, i partnerstvo.

Islamističke stranke : sudjelovanje bez moći

Malika Zeghal

Over the last two decades, social and political movements grounding their ideologies in references to Islam have sought to become legal political parties in many countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Some of these Islamist movements have been authorized to take part lawfully in electoral competition. Among the best known is Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won a parliamentary majority in 2002 and has led the government ever since. Morocco’s own Party of Justice and Development (PJD) has been legal since the mid- 1990s and commands a significant bloc of seats in Parliament. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) nikada nije bio ovlašten osnivati ​​političku stranku, ali usprkos državnoj represiji uspješno je kandidirao kandidate kao nominalne neovisne kandidate i na državnim i na lokalnim izborima.
Od ranih 1990-ih, ovaj je trend išao ruku pod ruku sa službenom politikom ograničene političke liberalizacije. Zajedno, dva su trenda potaknula raspravu o tome jesu li ti pokreti predani "demokraciji". Pojavila se ogromna literatura koja naglašava paradokse kao i moguće rizike i dobrobiti uključivanja islamističkih stranaka u izborni proces. Glavna paradigma koja se nalazi u ovom tekstu usredotočuje se na posljedice koje bi mogle nastupiti kada islamisti koriste demokratske instrumente, i nastoji naslutiti "prave" namjere koje će islamisti manifestirati ako dođu na vlast.

Rješavanje američke islamističke dileme: Lekcije iz južne i jugoistočne Azije

Shadi Hamid
NAS. napori za promicanje demokracije na Bliskom istoku dugo su bili paralizirani "islamističkom dilemom": u teoriji, želimo demokraciju, ali, u praksi, strah da će islamističke stranke imati glavne koristi od svakog političkog otvaranja. Najtragičnija manifestacija toga bio je alžirski debakl 1991 i 1992, kada su Sjedinjene Države šutke stajale dok je nepokolebljiva sekularna vojska otkazivala izbore nakon što je islamistička stranka osvojila parlamentarnu većinu. Novije, Bushova administracija odustala je od svoje "agende slobode" nakon što su islamisti prošli iznenađujuće dobro na izborima u cijeloj regiji, uključujući i u Egiptu, Saudijska Arabija, i palestinske teritorije.
Ali čak je i naš strah od islamističkih stranaka – i rezultirajuće odbijanje suradnje s njima – bio nedosljedan, važi za neke zemlje, ali ne i za druge. Što više što se neka zemlja smatra vitalnom za interese američke nacionalne sigurnosti, manje su Sjedinjene Države bile spremne prihvatiti islamističke skupine koje tamo imaju istaknutu političku ulogu. Međutim, u zemljama koje se smatraju manje strateški relevantnima, a gdje je manje u pitanju, Sjedinjene Države povremeno su imale nijansiraniji pristup. Ali upravo tamo gdje je više u igri, prepoznavanje uloge nenasilnih islamista je najvažnije, i, ovdje, Američka politika nastavlja padati.
U cijeloj regiji, Sjedinjene Države aktivno su podupirale autokratske režime i dale su zeleno svjetlo za kampanje represije protiv skupina kao što je egipatsko Muslimansko bratstvo, najstariji i najutjecajniji politički pokret u regiji. U ožujku 2008, tijekom razdoblja koje mnogi promatrači smatraju najgorim razdobljem represije protiv Bratstva od 1960-ih, Državna tajnica Condoleezza Rice odrekla se a $100 milijuna koje je Kongres propisao smanjenjem vojne pomoći Egiptu. Slična je situacija i u Jordanu. Bushova administracija i Demokratski kongres hvalili su zemlju kao "model" arapske reforme točno u isto vrijeme kada je smišljala nove načine za manipulaciju izbornim procesom kako bi ograničila islamističku zastupljenost, i baš kao što je održao izbore zahvaćene raširenim optužbama za izravnu prijevaru
i namještanje.1 Ovo nije slučajnost. Egipat i Jordan jedine su dvije arapske zemlje koje su potpisale mirovne sporazume s Izraelom. Štoviše, smatraju se ključnima za SAD. naporima da se suprotstavi Iranu, stabilizirati Irak, i boriti se protiv terorizma.

Islamist parties : Three kinds of movements

Tamara Cofman

Between 1991 i 2001, the world of political Islam became significantly more diverse. Today, the term “Islamist”—used to describe a political perspective centrally informed by a set of religious interpretations and commitments—can be applied to such a wide array of groups as to be almost meaningless. It encompasses everyone from the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center to peacefully elected legislators in Kuwait who have voted in favor of women’s suffrage.
Usprkos tome, the prominence of Islamist movements—legal and illegal, violent and peaceful—in the ranks of political oppositions across the Arab world makes the necessity of drawing relevant distinctions obvious. The religious discourse of the Islamists is now unavoidably central to Arab politics. Conventional policy discussions label Islamists either “moderate” or “radical,” generally categorizing them according to two rather loose and unhelpful criteria. The first is violence: Radicals use it and moderates do not. This begs the question of how to classify groups that do not themselves engage in violence but who condone, justify, or even actively support the violence of others. A second, only somewhat more restrictive criterion is whether the groups or individuals in question
accept the rules of the democratic electoral game. Popular sovereignty is no small concession for traditional Islamists, many of whom reject democratically elected governments as usurpers of God’s sovereignty.
Yet commitment to the procedural rules of democratic elections is not the same as commitment to democratic politics or governance.

The Mismeasure of Political Islam

Martin Kramer

Perhaps no development of the last decade of the twentieth century has caused as much confusion in the West as the emergence of political Islam. Just what does it portend? Is it against modernity, or is it an effect of modernity? Is it against nationalism, or is it a
form of nationalism? Is it a striving for freedom, or a revolt against freedom?
One would think that these are difficult questions to answer, and that they would inspire deep debates. Yet over the past few years, a surprisingly broad consensus has emerged within academe about the way political Islam should be measured. This consensus has
begun to spread into parts of government as well, especially in the U.S. and Europe. A paradigm has been built, and its builders claim that its reliability and validity are beyond question.
This now-dominant paradigm runs as follows. The Arab Middle East and North Africa are stirring. The peoples in these lands are still under varieties of authoritarian or despotic rule. But they are moved by the same universal yearning for democracy that transformed Eastern Europe and Latin America. True, there are no movements we would easily recognize as democracy movements. But for historical and cultural reasons, this universal yearning has taken the form of Islamist protest movements. If these do not look
like democracy movements, it is only a consequence of our own age-old bias against Islam. When the veil of prejudice is lifted, one will see Islamist movements for what they are: the functional equivalents of democratic reform movements. True, on the edges of these movements are groups that are atavistic and authoritarian. Some of their members are prone to violence. These are theextremists.” But the mainstream movements are essentially open, pluralistic, and nonviolent, led bymoderatesorreformists.” Thesemoderatescan be strengthened if they are made partners in the political process, and an initial step must be dialogue. But ultimately, the most effective way to domesticate the Islamists is to permit them to share or possess power. There is no threat here unless the West creates it, by supporting acts of state repression that would deny Islamists access to participation or power.

ISLAMISTIČKI POKRETI I DEMOKRATSKI PROCES U ARAPSKOM SVIJETU: Istraživanje sivih zona

Nathan J. Smeđa, Amr Hamzawy,

Marina Ottaway

Tijekom posljednjeg desetljeća, Islamistički pokreti etablirali su se kao glavni politički igrači na Bliskom istoku. Zajedno s vladama, islamistički pokreti, umjereni kao i radikalni, odredit će kako će se odvijati politika u regiji u doglednoj budućnosti. Pokazali su sposobnost ne samo za izradu poruka sa široko rasprostranjenom popularnom privlačnošću, već također, i što je najvažnije, stvoriti organizacije s istinskim društvenim osnovama i razviti koherentne političke strategije. Druge stranke,
uglavnom, nisu uspjeli na svim računima.
Javnost na Zapadu i, posebno, Sjedinjene Države, je tek nakon dramatičnih događaja postao svjestan važnosti islamističkih pokreta, poput revolucije u Iranu i ubojstva predsjednika Anwara al-Sadata u Egiptu. Pozornost je daleko veća od terorističkih napada u rujnu 11, 2001. Kao rezultat, Islamistički pokreti se općenito smatraju opasnima i neprijateljskima. Dok je takva karakterizacija točna u pogledu organizacija na radikalnom kraju islamističkog spektra, koji su opasni zbog svoje spremnosti da pribjegnu neselektivnom nasilju u ostvarivanju svojih ciljeva, to nije točna karakterizacija mnogih skupina koje su se odrekle ili izbjegle nasilje. Budući da terorističke organizacije predstavljaju neposrednu
prijetnja, međutim, kreatori politike u svim zemljama su posvetili nesrazmjernu pozornost nasilnim organizacijama.
To je glavna struja islamističkih organizacija, ne one radikalne, koji će imati najveći utjecaj na buduću političku evoluciju Bliskog istoka. Grandiozni ciljevi radikala o ponovnoj uspostavi kalifata koji bi ujedinio cijeli arapski svijet, ili čak nametanja pojedinim arapskim zemljama zakona i društvenih običaja nadahnutih fundamentalističkom interpretacijom islama jednostavno su predaleko od današnje stvarnosti da bi se ostvarili. To ne znači da terorističke skupine nisu opasne - mogle bi prouzročiti velike gubitke života čak i u potrazi za nemogućim ciljevima - ali da je malo vjerojatno da će promijeniti lice Bliskog istoka. Glavne struje islamističkih organizacija općenito su druga stvar. Oni su već imali snažan utjecaj na društvene običaje u mnogim zemljama, zaustavljanje i preokretanje sekularističkih trendova i mijenjanje načina na koji se mnogi Arapi odijevaju i ponašaju. I njihov neposredni politički cilj, postati moćna sila sudjelovanjem u normalnoj politici svoje zemlje, nije nemoguće. Već se realizira u zemljama poput Maroka, Jordan, pa čak i Egipat, koja još uvijek zabranjuje sve islamističke političke organizacije, ali sada ima osamdeset i osam Muslimanske braće u Parlamentu. Politika, ne nasilje, je ono što glavnim islamistima daje njihov utjecaj.

ISLAM, ISLAMISTS, AND THE ELECTORAL PRINCIPLE I N THE MIDDLE EAST

James Piscatori

For an idea whose time has supposedly come, ÒdemocracyÓ masks an astonishing

number of unanswered questions and, in the Muslim world, has generated

a remarkable amount of heat. Is it a culturally specific term, reflecting Western

European experiences over several centuries? Do non-Western societies possess

their own standards of participation and accountabilityÑand indeed their own

rhythms of developmentÑwhich command attention, if not respect? Does Islam,

with its emphasis on scriptural authority and the centrality of sacred law, allow

for flexible politics and participatory government?

The answers to these questions form part of a narrative and counter-narrative

that themselves are an integral part of a contested discourse. The larger story

concerns whether or not ÒIslamÓ constitutes a threat to the West, and the supplementary

story involves IslamÕs compatibility with democracy. The intellectual

baggage, to change the metaphor, is scarcely neutral. The discussion itself has

become acutely politicised, caught in the related controversies over Orientalism,

the exceptionalism of the Middle East in particular and the Muslim world in general,

and the modernism of religious ÒfundamentalistÓ movements.

Politički islam i europska vanjska politika

POLITIČKI ISLAM I EUROPSKA POLITIKA SUSJEDSTVA

MICHAEL EMERSON

RICHARD YOUNGS

Od 2001 a međunarodni događaji koji su uslijedili zbog prirode odnosa Zapada i političkog islama postali su odlučujuće pitanje za vanjsku politiku. Posljednjih godina poduzeta je značajna količina istraživanja i analiza po pitanju političkog islama. To je pomoglo ispraviti neke pojednostavljene i alarmantne pretpostavke koje su se prije držale na Zapadu o prirodi islamističkih vrijednosti i namjera. Paralelno s ovim, Europska Unija (MI) razvio je niz političkih inicijativa prvenstveno Europsku politiku susjedstva(ENP) koji se u principu obvežu na dijalog i dublje angažman(nenasilno) politički akteri i organizacije civilnog društva u arapskim zemljama. Ipak, mnogi analitičari i kreatori politike sada se žale na određeni trofej i u konceptualnoj raspravi i u razvoju politike. Utvrđeno je da je politički islam krajolik koji se mijenja, duboko pogođen nizom okolnosti, no čini se da je rasprava često zapela o pojednostavljenom pitanju "jesu li islamisti demokratski?'Mnogi su neovisni analitičari unatoč tome zagovarali angažman s islamistima, ali stvarno zbližavanje zapadnih vlada i islamističkih organizacija i dalje je ograničeno .

Egipat , A consistent pattern of gross violations of the right to liberty and the right to not be subjected to arbitrary detention

Alkarama for Human Rights

According to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1, the Human Rights Council complaint procedure addresses: “consistent patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of all human rights and all fundamental freedoms occurring in any part of the world and under any circumstances.”3 This complaint concerns the violation of two fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) – the right to liberty (Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and the right to not be subjected to arbitrary detention (Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). There is a persistent pattern to these violations as they concern between 5,000 i 18,000 people4 arrested over the last 25 years under orders from the Ministry of Interior using a recurring methodology.
Thousands of individuals have been detained, often for more than a decade under administrative detention orders from the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior and they have suffered gross violations of their right to liberty and the right to not be subjected to arbitrary detention. There is no effective judicial remedy as the government fails to comply with court rulings on release. Furthermore, many
other rights are violated because of this prolonged arbitrary detention, namely the creation of an atmosphere of impunity which gives rise to cases of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
Of concern is that these violations are having a creeping effect: originally targeting “national security” cases and members of the Islamist opposition (and this on a scale amounting to a gross violation of human rights), administrative detention is now being used to arbitrarily detain members of the political opposition and critics of the government such as bloggers, as well as individuals suspected of criminal offences – rather than subjecting them to legal standards under criminal law (see section 6).
Alkarama has received nearly 400 cases of administrative detention in Egypt over the past 5 godine. Cases are received from the families of victims, lawyers and human rights organisations in Egypt including a considerable contribution from the Arab Penal Reform Organisation. The present complaint relies on 43 cases which we are actively following (with the period of arbitrary detention ranging from 2 to 18 godine) (Annex A). A further table of 347 cases of administrative detention collected in 2005 (Annex B) has also been provided to further illustrate those cases set out in Annex A and the points raised in this complaint.

Islamističke stranke , ARE THEY DEMOCRATS? DOES it matter ?

Tarek Masoud

Driven by a sense that “the Islamists are coming,” journalists and policy makers have been engaged of late in fevered speculation over whether Islamist parties such as Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) or Palestine’s Hamas really believe in democracy. While I attempt to outline the boundaries of the Islamist democratic commitment, I think that peering into the Islamist soul is a misuse of energies. The Islamists are not coming. Štoviše, as Adam Przeworski and others have argued, commitments to democracy are more often born of environmental constraints than of true belief. Instead of worrying whether Islamists are real democrats,
our goal should be to help fortify democratic and liberal institutions and actors so that no group—Islamist or otherwise—can subvert them.
But what is this movement over whose democratic bona fides we worry? Islamism is a slippery concept. Na primjer, if we label as Islamist those parties that call for the application of shari‘a, we must exclude Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (which is widely considered Islamist) and include Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (which actively represses Islamists). Instead of becoming mired in definitional issues, we would do better to focus on a set of political parties that have grown from the same historical roots, derive many of their goals and positions from the same body of ideas, and maintain organizational ties to one another—that is, those parties that spring from the international MB. These include the Egyptian mother organization (founded in 1928), but also Hamas, Jordanski front islamske akcije, Algeria’s Movement for a Peaceful Society, the Iraqi Islamic Party, Lebanon’s Islamic Group, and others.

Umjereno muslimansko bratstvo

Robert S. Leiken

Steven Brooke

Muslimanska braća su najstarija na svijetu, najveći, i najutjecajnija islamistička organizacija. Ujedno je i najkontroverzniji,
osuđen i konvencionalnim mišljenjem na Zapadu i radikalnim mišljenjem na Bliskom istoku. Američki komentatori nazvali su Muslimansku braću "radikalnim islamistima" i "vitalnom komponentom neprijateljske napadačke snage … duboko neprijateljski raspoloženi prema Sjedinjenim Državama. " Ayman al-Zawahiri iz Al Kaide podsmjehuje im se zbog „lur[ing] tisuće mladića muslimana u redovima za izbore … umjesto u redove džihada. " Džihadisti se gnušaju Muslimanske braće (na arapskom poznat kao al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen) za odbacivanje globalnog džihada i prihvaćanje demokracije. Čini se da ih ovi položaji čine umjerenima, upravo ono što Sjedinjene Države, kratka za saveznike u muslimanskom svijetu, traži.
Ali Ikhwan također napada SAD. vanjska politika, posebno podrška Washingtona Izraelu, i pitanja ostaju o njegovoj stvarnoj predanosti demokratskom procesu. Tijekom prošle godine, susreli smo se s desecima vođa i aktivista bratstva iz Egipta, Francuska, Jordan, Španjolska, Sirija,Tunis, i Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo.

What Leads Voters to Support the Opposition under Authoritarianism ?

Michael D.H. Robbins

Elections have become commonplace in most authoritarian states. While this may seem to be a contradiction in terms, in reality elections play an important role in these regimes. While elections for positions of real power tend to be non-competitive, many
elections—including those for seemingly toothless parliaments—can be strongly contested.
The existing literature has focused on the role that elections play in supporting the regime. Na primjer, they can help let off steam, help the regime take the temperature of society, or can be used to help a dominant party know which individuals it should promote (Schedler 2002; Blaydes 2006). Još, while the literature has focused on the supply-side of elections in authoritarian states, there are relatively few systematic studies of voter behavior in these elections (see Lust-Okar 2006 for an exception). Rather, most analyses have argued that patronage politics are the norm in these societies and that ordinary citizens tend to be very cynical about these exercises given that they cannot bring any real change (Kassem 2004; Desposato 2001; Zaki 1995). While the majority of voters in authoritarian systems may behave in this manner, not all do. Zapravo, at times, even the majority vote against the regime leading to
significant changes as has occurred recently in Kenya, the Ukraine and Zimbabwe. Još, even in cases where opposition voters make up a much smaller percentage of voters, it is important to understand who these voters are and what leads them to vote against the
režim.

EGYPT: SECURITY, POLITIČKI, AND ISLAMIST CHALLENGES

Šerifa zuhur

This monograph addresses three issues in contemporary Egypt: failures of governance and political development, the continued strength of Islamism, and counter terrorism. It is easier to tackle their contours in Egypt if they are considered separately. They are not, međutim, separate or independent; continuing to treat them as mutually exclusive conditions will lead to further crisis down the road.
The Egyptian government forged a truce with its most troublesome Islamist militants in 1999. Međutim, violence emerged again from new sources of Islamist militancy from 2003 into 2006. All of the previously held conclusions about the role of state strength
versus movements that led to the truce are now void as it appears that “al-Qa’idism” may continue to
plague the country or, indeed, the region as a whole.
In consequence, an important process of political liberalization was slowed, and in 3 to 4 godine, if not earlier, Egypt’s political security and stability will be at risk. Widespread economic and political discontent might push that date forward. U Dodatku, continuing popular support for moderate Islamism could lead to a situation where the current peace could erode if a
comprehensive peace settlement to the Palestinian- Arab-Israeli conflict is achieved, and if various other
factors were to come into play.