Gamal al-Banna, scholar and younger brother of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, in an interview with Egyptian newspaper AlMasry AlYoum, rejected the idea of of Egypt as a 'civil state with an Islamic reference.'  Al-Banna said that such a concept was a fallacy as such a state would become a religious state.  He stated that the religious outlook would win out over the civilian outlook, if such a system were ...

On Tuesday, the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum hosted a discussion on what lessons from South Africa and Indonesia can be applied to the political transitions in the Middle East and North Africa.  Leena El-Ali, Director of the Muslim-Western Relations and the Middle East and North Africa Programs at Search for Common Ground, who moderated the event, made opening remarks and introduced the following panelists: Endy Bayuni, Visiting Fellow at ...

Prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh has announced that he will run for president, defying the group’s previous decision not to field a candidate.  Abouel Fotouh has said that he will run as an independent in the December election.  Disagreements between Abouel Fotouh and other Brotherhood leaders led to his exclusion from the Guidance Bureau, however he still commands a strong following from the younger Brotherhood members.  Abouel ...

During a Policy Forum at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, chair of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at Sciences Po Giles Kepel and Dr. Martin Kramer, the Washington Institute's Wexler Fromer fellow discussed the future of the Arab uprisings.  Kepel pointed tothe Arab people's economic grievances, frustrations over rampant corruption and the expiration of the Islamist threat as reasons for the revolution.  He also noted the differences between the Tunisian ...

On Friday, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) held their 12th Annual Conference under the theme “Tunisia’s and Egypt’s Revolutions and Transitions to Democracy.” CSID President Radwan Masmoudi opened the conference by giving special attention to discerning real and fake stability and development in Egypt and Tunisia. The first panel, chaired by George Washington University Visiting Scholar and Program Committee Chair for the event, Radwan Ziadeh, was ...

In an op-ed in Al-Ahram, Ibrahim El-Houdaiby discusses the emergence and role of the  two public spheres fostered by the Mubarak's regime: the religious and secular-liberal spheres.  He notes that these spheres, which had minimal diversity and relatively exclusive, had little influence on the regime's policies.  Rather, Mubarak chose which sphere's rhetoric to employ to justify his policies.  El-Houdaiby also discusses how these regimes changed over time and calls on members ...

Former Israeli Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, wrote a feature in Foreign Affairs describing Israel's current posture toward Syria. The piece does not mention Israeli President Shimon Peres' recent statement on Syrian democracy being in Israel's long-term interests. In contrast, he highlights Israel's anxiety over the volatility in Damascus, particularly the threat of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover.

A post at Democracy Digest discusses whether or not Turkey is still a model for democracy in the Arab world.  Several commentators and analysts have pointed to Turkey under the rule of the  AKP as proof that Islamist based parties can respect and promote democratic norms.  This argument is extended to demonstrate that fear of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and other Islamist parties across the Arab world is misplaced. ...

On Thursday, the Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Middle East Bureau at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Thomas Garrett, Vice President for Programs at the International Republican Institute (IRI), to discuss “Reform and Development in Egypt: U.S. Goals and Priorities.” The event was moderated by Kate Seelye, Vice President at MEI.   For full notes, continue below.  For pdf version, click here.   Seelye opened ...

Protest leaders and organizers are calling for mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to protest the decreasing responsiveness of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as one youth leader put it.  The National Association for Change (NAC) joined the call for protests stating its frustration at the perceived slow pace of efforts to prosecute former regime officials for their role in violently suppressing the protests.  They ...

Following a trip to Cairo, Ed Husain wrote a piece for Foreign Policy highlighting his belief that the United States must no longer look at the Muslim Brotherhood as a monolith and must instead "attempt to engage progressive and pragmatic strands within" the brotherhood. Husain asserts that the United States must not make the same mistake "it has made so many times in the past" of ignoring  the "political reality" ...

Bilal Y. Saab, writing for The National Interest, argues that a collapse of the regime would have ripple effects across the Middle East and the country's network of external relations could collapse.  He outlines two ways in which a post-Assad Syria could develop.  On the positive side, Syrian intervention in Lebanese politics could essentially be eliminated along with its support for Hezbollah.  This would significantly weaken Hezbollah he argues.  The ...

On Monday, the Middle East Institute hosted a discussion on the nature of cyberactivism in the uprisings taking place across the Middle East. Kate Seelye, Vice President of the Middle East Institute, made opening remarks and introduced the speakers: Adel Iskandar, Professor in Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, and Courtney Radsch, Senior Program Officer at Freedom House. To read full notes, continue below or click here for pdf. Kate Seelye ...

Dina Guirgis, writing for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, questions why Egyptians were asked to vote on a referendum when the Supreme Military Council (SMC) has announced it will soon issue its own "constitutional declaration," superseding the existing constitution. Guirguis highlights that the vote was a "positive step," however, believes that changes to Egypt's presidential system,which grants the president power to decree laws under Article 112, ...

Soner Cagaptay, writing at the Wall Street Journal, cautions against calls for post-authoritarian Arab countries to follow the Turkish model.  Cagaptay argues that the Justice and Development Party, or the AKP, has slowly been "transforming Turkish society by making religion the moral compass of the country's body politic."  The problem with this shift is that "once narrowly-defined faith becomes the guiding principle in policy, fundamentalists claiming ideological purity become more ...

Writing at the New York Review of Books, Yasmine El Rashidi discusses the Egyptian referendum which took place last weekend.  She states while many laud the fact that 77.2 percent of the population voted for the amendments, they ignore the fact that only 18 million of Egypt's eligible 45 million voters participated.  She also notes that many activists who played a leading role in the revolution have dismissed the referendum ...