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Political Islam Is Declining in the Middle East

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Prof. Hillel Frisch - The death of former Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi, the first-ever Muslim Brotherhood head of state, on June 17, 2019, prompted barely a whisper among the Egyptian public. When Egyptians took to the streets three months after Morsi's death, their chants had nothing to do with Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood, or Islamist ideology. The same can be said of the months-long protests taking place in Algeria and Sudan. Even in Iraq, one sees a waning of the political importance of religion. When Shiite protesters point an accusing finger, it is against Iranian intervention in Iraqi affairs and the economic costs of such involvement. In recent elections in Tunisia, the candidate endorsed by the Nahda, a reformist Islamic party, came in a distant third. The writer is a professor of political and Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research associate at its Begin-Sadat Center.
2019-10-23 00:00:00
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