I’m no expert on the Middle East, but I think it’s a safe bet to say that Eric Margolis is a better source on Egyptian politics than the entertainers in Congress and talk radio put together. In his articles, The Mideast Burns and Democracy or More Dictatorship for Egypt?, Eric Margolis lays out his thoughts on the Middle East, Egypt, and the Muslim brotherhood. Those who see a Jihadist behind every bush will not like his characterization of the group:
The Brotherhood is not an Iranian-style extreme Islamic movement, contrary to alarms being spread by neocons and the often poorly-informed US media.
In fact, the Muslim Brotherhood has long eschewed politics to concentrate on social, religious and educational issues. If anything, it has been ultra-conservative, even stodgy and timid. But it also represents the [sic] Washington’s best potential ally if Egypt’s military regime falls. We should not be misled by self-serving warnings about Islamic bogeymen.
– The Mideast Burns
Egypt’s venerable Muslim Brotherhood won some 48% of the vote, confirming it as the primary voice of 81 million Egyptians. In North America, the Brotherhood has long been wrongly branded an extremist, even terrorist organization by the seriously misinformed. This view is not only wrong, but harmful to US Mideast policy.
The Muslim Brotherhood is made up primarily of middle class, middle-aged professionals: doctors, engineers, lawyers. It is seriously stodgy and conservative. Many younger Egyptians derided it as “your grandfather’s party.” It sits squarely in the middle of Egypt’s political spectrum.
The Brotherhood’s political arm, its new Freedom and Justice Party, was patterned on Turkey’s highly successful, Islamic-lite AK Party of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. Like Turkey’s AK, the Muslim Brotherhood is primarily concerned with social justice, education, health and welfare, areas almost totally neglected by the former Mubarak dictatorship.
– Democracy or Dictatorship
Of course, we also face the problem that Iran is most definitely not what the paranoid (like Santorum, who ludicrously called them “the equivalent of Al Qaeda” Monday night) think it to be. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Eric Margolis on the Muslim Brotherhood
I’m no expert on the Middle East, but I think it’s a safe bet to say that Eric Margolis is a better source on Egyptian politics than the entertainers in Congress and talk radio put together. In his articles, The Mideast Burns and Democracy or More Dictatorship for Egypt?, Eric Margolis lays out his thoughts on the Middle East, Egypt, and the Muslim brotherhood. Those who see a Jihadist behind every bush will not like his characterization of the group:
Of course, we also face the problem that Iran is most definitely not what the paranoid (like Santorum, who ludicrously called them “the equivalent of Al Qaeda” Monday night) think it to be. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
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