1 - 5 of 5
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Fighting on Two Fronts: Secular Parties in the Arab World
- Author:
- Amr Hamzawy and Marina S. Ottaway
- Publication Date:
- 05-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Secular parties in the Arab world—a broad range of political organizations that vary in their political orientation from liberal positions to vaguely socialist programs—are facing a crisis. Caught between regimes that allow little legal space for free political activity on one side and popular Islamist movements that are clearly in the ascendancy throughout the Arab world on the other, they are struggling for influence and relevance, and in some cases even for survival.
- Topic:
- Politics, Religion, and War
- Political Geography:
- Arabia
3. Islamist Movements in the Arab World and the 2006 Lebanon War
- Author:
- Amr Hamzawy and Dina Bishara
- Publication Date:
- 11-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The 2006 Lebanon war has had a profound effect on Islamist movements that have chosen to compete as legal parties in the political systems of their countries, testing their relationship with the ruling regimes as well as their respect for pluralism and tolerance.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Islam, Religion, and War
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, Arab Countries, and Lebanon
4. Islamist Movements and the Democratic Process in the Arab World: Exploring Gray Zones
- Author:
- Nathan J. Brown, Amr Hamzawy, and Marina S. Ottaway
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- In today's Arab world, Islamists have assumed the role once played by national liberation movements and leftist parties. They are the mass movements of the twenty-first century. They are well embedded in the social fabric, understand the importance of good organization, and are thus able to mobilize considerable constituencies. Their ideology prescribes a simple solution to the persistent crises of contemporary Arab societies—a return to the fundamentals, or true spirit, of Islam. Indeed, “Islam is the solution” has been the longtime slogan of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Like all successful movements, Islamists have been able to distill a long, complex philosophical tradition into simple slogans that have quickly supplanted the Pan-Arabism and socialism that dominated the region until the 1970s. As a result, in most countries Islamists represent the only viable opposition forces to existing undemocratic regimes.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, Islam, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Arabia, and Arab Countries
5. The Key to Arab Reform: Moderate Islamists
- Author:
- Amr Hamzawy
- Publication Date:
- 07-2005
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Before any significant political reform can take place in the Arab world, the United States and Europe need to begin engaging moderate Islamists, an action less thorny than it might seem because Islamists have embraced democratic procedures and have shown a strong commitment to the rule of law. For a long time Arab regimes have frightened the United States and Europe into supporting regimes' repressive measures toward Islamist movements by invoking the nightmare of anti-Western fanatics taking power through the ballot box. However, today's moderate Islamists—while illiberal in many important respects—no longer match the nightmare. Excluding them from the political sphere weakens the chances of democratic reform and increases the likelihood that eventually they will resort to violence.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Politics, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and Arabia