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Egypt's Islamist Future
(Los Angeles Times) David Schenker - The election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as Egypt's president temporarily puts to rest the debate about whether the nation will be secular or Islamist. Egypt is an Islamist state. Though headlines will remain focused on the struggle for supremacy between the Islamists and the military, the more important political battle in Cairo will be over what kind of Islamic state Egypt will become, with competition between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis. The Muslim Brotherhood was never particularly moderate. Now, internal political dynamics are likely to propel the Brotherhood toward even more militant positions as it tries to bridge gaps with its Salafi cousins. The Salafis have threatened to withdraw from Morsi's presidential team if he follows through on his commitment to include a woman and a Coptic Christian among his six vice presidents. The writer directs the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.