Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Parting the Veil II

Last Friday I published this post about an article which was sent to me to review, written by Shadi Hamid, Project on Middle East Democracy’s Director of Research, called “Parting the Veil.” As I noted then, the article is well worth the read: it is highly interesting and thought provoking. I cannot say that I agree with everything Hamid writes, but he makes some good points, and raises some in

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Last Friday I published this post about an article which was sent to me to review, written by Shadi Hamid, Project on Middle East Democracy’s Director of Research, called “Parting the Veil.” As I noted then, the article is well worth the read: it is highly interesting and thought provoking. I cannot say that I agree with everything Hamid writes, but he makes some good points, and raises some interesting questions.

The main point the author makes is that the West - better, the US - should stop disenfranchising and isolating Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Hamid, there is only one way forward in the Middle East: and that’s by promoting Democracy there.

In essence, the author advocates a policy I would like to describe as neorealism. He rejects traditional realism, which sometimes advocates working with / supporting dictators and, instead, advocates that the US should accept reality as it is: Islamist movements are very popular in the Middle East, and it is in the best interest to work with them as much as possible - especially with the moderate elements in Islamist movements.

To read more of my take on Hamid’s article click here.

Some commenters asked whether I could put the article up: I could not - it’s got copyright etc. However, you can read the article online, namely by clicking here. I received the link, long after I had published the post, so that is why I decided to publish a new post, containing the link to the actual article. Be sure to read it - and my thoughts on it of course.