What the Muslim Brotherhood’s Platform Means

Mohammed Herzallah and Amr Hamzawy, in an article in the Daily Star, call the Muslim Brotherhood”s new platform a step forward, “making major strides toward a comprehensive public policy program espousing freedom of expression and pluralistic politics – ideals that were previously immaterial to Islamist discourse in Egypt.” They argue that changes in the Brotherhood “in the hopes of becoming legitimate political actors resembles the kind of raw and authentic progress that has been largely overlooked in the global war on terrorism; it should be welcomed, studied, and carefully cultivated.”

In a separate article also in the Daily Star, Amr Hamzawy says that the new platform actually sends mixed signals. He says that while it addresses one of the main criticisms of the Brotherhood–championing vague ideological and religious slogans without specific policy prescriptions–it also raises troubling questions and “reveals significant ambiguities and perhaps regression in the movement”s thinking.”

This commentary is reprinted with permission from  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.