October 15, 2013 | Quote
Has Islamism Peaked in the Middle East?
Almost every day there is news about a new attack by al-Qaida or another radical Islamic group, yet events since the summer demonstrate that there is also a regional pushback against Islamists in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.
The Egyptian army toppled the Muslim Brotherhood from power on July 3, marking the beginning of a strong opposition by some in the region to Islamists. And in Tunisia, the like-minded ruling Ennahda movement has its rule under threat after agreeing to appoint a caretaker government in the coming weeks. In May, massive protests against Turkey’s ruling Islamist AKP party erupted in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, revealing that a significant portion of the country’s population opposed the government’s increasing aggressiveness in forcing its views on the public.
In Syria, there is mounting evidence that the country is becoming a stew of Islamist groups, both al-Qaida-affiliated and other Muslim Brotherhood-type groups. A United States official, who has access to intelligence reports, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that Syria may become similar to the tribal areas of Pakistan, where al-Qaida and other radical groups are based. US officials have also made comparisons to Afghanistan and Yemen.
…
Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Post that in his estimation al-Qaida and its affiliates are on the rise, and that “the al-Qaida network was neither decimated or weakened when the administration said it was last year.”
Commenting on the Brotherhood, he said that the group has lost some of its luster in recent months. “But there does not appear to be any ideology or political movement capable of countering it. So, the Brotherhood is basically grappling with itself. If it is able to regroup and rebrand, it will find a way to reassert itself in politics around the region,” he said.