Egypt and Other Islamist Systems: Will Despair Bring Moderation?

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By Barry Rubin

Published on Saturday, 25 May 2013 08:16

A colleague wrote me the following thoughts:

“As the expert on this issue, may I pose a question to you? I accept the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is messing up in Egypt - that they are suffering a credibility gap between promise and performance. But could this not also be positive in that in the process political Islam itself gets discredited. You would recall the Islamist Revolution heralded by Hasan al-Turabi in Sudan.

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Sinai Is Becoming a Major Threat to Egypt

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By Zvi Mazel

Published on Saturday, 25 May 2013 08:04

There was a happy ending for the six policemen and the soldier kidnapped last week in the Sinai Peninsula. They were released unhurt after marathon negotiations that lasted until dawn Wednesday between a representative of military intelligence, a Salafi sheikh and a representative of the Swarka tribe, one of the largest in the peninsula.

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Remember That Historic Arab Spring Speech?

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By Amy Hawthorne, Michele Dunne

Published on Friday, 24 May 2013 07:19

"We have the chance to show that America values the dignity of the street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator ... America must use all our influence to encourage reform in the region ... we need to speak honestly about the principles that we believe in, with friend and foe alike."

Which prominent American spoke these words? It was neither Senator John McCain, enthusiast of democracy promotion, nor former President George W. Bush, architect of the Freedom Agenda. It was our realist, pragmatic President Barack Obama, in a major speech on May 19, 2011, during the heady early months of the Arab Spring.

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An Attempt at De-Christianizing Egypt

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By Saba E. Demian, M.D.

Published on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 12:29

The Chinese saying "A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One Step," is used to encourage a person to embark on a prosperous but seemingly impossible task. However, in the current situation in Egypt the saying applies negatively in the attempt of the Muslim extremists, headed by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) government, the Salafists and other equally vicious and violent hooligans to de-Christianize Egypt.

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