MERIP Reports no. 102, January 1982. Cover by Johanna Vogelsang. Middle East Report no. 179, Nov/Dec 1992. Middle East Report no. 183, July/August 1993. Cover art by Maath Alousi, design by Julie Farrar. MER Article Understanding the Diversity of Political Islam The complex phenomenon of political Islam has inspired much sensational and alarmist writing, both popular and scholarly. Since the early 1980s, however, MERIP contributors have provided an antidote with in-depth and nuanced analyses of the impact Islamic movements have had on popular struggles for democracy and women’s rights and Francesco Cavatorta • 4 min read
MERIP Reports and Middle East Report covers from 1982, 1992 and 1993. Current Analysis Understanding the Diversity of Political Islam Francesco Cavatorta examines MERIP's 50 years of covering the complex phenomenon of political Islam and finds that much of it is based on field research, participant observation, interviews and ethnography. The result has been a rich diversity of approaches that comprehend the plural nature of Islam Francesco Cavatorta • 4 min read
Current Analysis Why the Anti-Mursi Protesters Are Right Perusing US media coverage and analysis of the crisis in Egypt over the last two weeks has been quite disappointing. As the protests against the elected president Muhammad Mursi escalate, the main players in the struggle and the stakes involved are often mischaracterized. Some might ask: Why does th Ahmad Shokr • 5 min read
Current Analysis Liberalism vs. Democracy in Egypt President Muhammad Mursi’s Thursday night address did not mollify protesters, but it clarified the stakes in any dialogue between his supporters and the National Salvation Front led by Mohamed ElBaradei, Hamdin Sabbahi and Amr Moussa. Jason Brownlee • 4 min read
Current Analysis Five Notes on Egypt's Crisis Hani Shukrallah, the distinguished former editor of al-Ahram Weekly, laments [http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/4/0/59933/Opinion//The-decline-and-fall-of-the-Muslim-Brotherhood.aspx] the “decline and fall” of the Society of Muslim Brothers from a partner in a diverse Egyptian nation to a narr Joshua Stacher • 4 min read
MER Article The Brothers and the War The shoes thrown by Muntadhar al-Zaydi at George W. Bush during the former president’s farewell tour of Iraq have added an icon to the international culture of protest. During Israel’s wintertime war on Gaza, which, according to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health, killed more than 1,300 Joshua Stacher • 18 min read
Current Analysis Strikes in Egypt Spread from Center of Gravity The longest and strongest wave of worker protest since the end of World War II is rolling through Egypt. In March, the liberal daily al-Masri al-Yawm estimated that no fewer than 222 sit-in strikes, work stoppages, hunger strikes and demonstrations had occurred during 2006. In the first five months Joel Beinin, Hossam El-Hamalawy • 12 min read
Special Publications The Brotherhood Goes to Parliament Sitting on a comfortable fake leather couch in the lobby of Cairo’s four-star Ma‘adi Hotel on a spring evening, we watch tourists mill around. Asian, European and Sudanese businessmen and holidaymakers casually eat a buffet dinner or browse in the souvenir shop selling knockoff pharaonic trinkets. The hotel Alyssa Bivins • 18 min read
MER Article What Does the Gama'a Islamiyya Want? Tal‘at Qasim got his start in al-Gama‘a al-Islamiyya [1] (the Islamic Group) in the 1970s when it took control of many student organizations in the Egyptian universities. He led the student union in Minya, a hotbed of the Islamist movement, and later was a founding member of the majlis al-shura (gov Hisham Mubarak • 18 min read
