Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid is no longer with the Carnegie Endowment.
Mustapha Kamel Al Sayyid was a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Developing Countries at Cairo University, and he also teaches at the American University in Cairo. He previously taught at Harvard University and was a visiting scholar at the University of California Los Angeles. His areas of specialization include the politics of development, foreign aid, human rights, and civil society. A prolific writer in Arabic, English, and French, Mr. Al-Sayyid has published extensively on civil society, political change, and ideology. His articles have appeared in World Policy, Middle East Journal, Washington Quarterly, and Maghreb-Mashreq.
Languages: Arabic, English, French, some Italian and Spanish
Education: B.A., Cairo University; M.A., Institute of Social Studies, The Hague; Ph.D., University of Geneva
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has once again demonstrated its capacity for popular mobilization and thus its position as the most important opposition group in Egypt—even though it remains illegal. The occasion was the sudden death of the Brotherhood's leader, Supreme Guide Mamoun Al Hodeiby, on January 9. The death occurred too late at night for the morning newspapers to report it.
Since September 11, discussions of political Islam have been distorted by the tendency to identify political Islam with Osama bin Laden, his associates, and organizations involved in violent actions in places such as Chechnya, Kashmir, Algeria, and Egypt. In reality, such violent, militant groups constitute only a small minority among political Islamists.
Given the emphasis on democracy promotion as part of the war on terrorism, why does the U.S. ignore the view of the vast majority of Arabs? The U.S. would do well to listen to the voices of its Arab allies and pursue peace and economic development in the Middle East, instead of waging war on Iraq.
The current focus on political reform, among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and within the Bush administration, is a product of the Intifada, the collapse of the peace process, and the impasse between Israel and Palestinian leadership.
