• Research
  • Politika
  • About
Carnegie Russia Eurasia center logoCarnegie lettermark logo
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Amr Hamzawy",
    "Marina Ottaway",
    "Nathan J. Brown"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform"
  ]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE

REQUIRED IMAGE

Other
Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center

What Islamists Need to Be Clear About: The Case of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

In this Carnegie Policy Outlook, What Islamists Need to be Clear About: The Case of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hamzawy, Ottaway, and Brown respond to the reactions and critiques by Islamists and seek to explain the issues on which Islamist movements need to achieve greater clarity in order to gain credibility in the West.

Link Copied
By Amr Hamzawy, Marina Ottaway, Nathan J. Brown
Published on Feb 20, 2007

Source: Carnegie Endowment

In March 2006, Carnegie senior associates Amr Hamzawy, Marina Ottaway, and Nathan Brown explored the ambiguous position of moderate Islamist movements on crucial political issues—what the authors referred to as “gray zones”. The paper elicited many responses, positive and negative, by representatives of Islamist movements.

In this Carnegie Policy Outlook, What Islamists Need to be Clear About: The Case of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hamzawy, Ottaway, and Brown respond to the reactions and critiques by Islamists and seek to explain the issues on which Islamist movements need to achieve greater clarity in order to gain credibility in the West.  Using the case of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the authors address Western concerns over the Islamist political vision and provide new analysis into the complexity of the Brotherhood’s position on key issues such as Sharia law, religious identity, organization and leadership, universal citizenship, and women’s rights. 

“We believe that this attempt to explain Western views of a problem to an audience in the Middle East typifies the Carnegie Endowment’s New Vision of what a twenty-first century think tank should do, namely not only provide policy makers and analysts with information and insights about other regions of the world, but also provide policy makers and analysts in other parts of the world with a better understanding of the United States and the West,” said the authors.

Click on the link above for the full text of this Carnegie publication.

This is a web-only publication.

About the Authors
Amr Hamzawy is a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment. He is a noted Egyptian political scientist whose research focuses on the changing dynamics of political participation in the Arab world, and the political role of Islamist movements.

Marina Ottaway is director of the Middle East Program and senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment. She coedited with Thomas Carothers Uncharted Journey: Promoting Democracy in the Middle East (Carnegie, 2005)

Nathan Brown is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and is also professor of political science and international affairs and director of the Middle East Studies Program at the George Washington University.
 

About the Authors

Amr Hamzawy

Director, Middle East Program

Amr Hamzawy is a senior fellow and the director of the Carnegie Middle East Program. His research and writings focus on Egypt’s and other middle powers’ involvement in regional security in the Middle East, particularly through collective diplomacy and multilateral conflict resolution

Marina Ottaway

Former Senior Associate, Middle East Program

Before joining the Endowment, Ottaway carried out research in Africa and in the Middle East for many years and taught at the University of Addis Ababa, the University of Zambia, the American University in Cairo, and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Nathan J. Brown

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Nathan J. Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, is a distinguished scholar and author of nine books on Arab politics and governance, as well as editor of five books.

Authors

Amr Hamzawy
Director, Middle East Program
Amr Hamzawy
Marina Ottaway
Former Senior Associate, Middle East Program
Marina Ottaway
Nathan J. Brown
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Nathan J. Brown
Political ReformMiddle East

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Multiple Wars Are Ruining Central Asia’s Efforts to Diversify Its Trade Routes

    This year’s wars have made alternative routes to transit through Russia no less risky for Central Asian countries.

      Galiya Ibragimova

  • Paper
    Loyal but Powerless: The Downgrading of Russia’s Elite

    The ruling elites in contemporary Russia are not a political class, but a community of managers who are not subject to competition or public accountability. The state is becoming an operating apparatus without any internal autonomy.

      Alexandra Prokopenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    What Does Pashinyan’s Parliamentary Victory Mean for Armenia’s Future?

    Pashinyan’s pro-European party has been re-elected with a decisive victory. But the pro-Russian opposition could still slow Armenia’s progress toward peace with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Europe.

      Mikayel Zolyan

  • Book
    From Sovereigns to Servants. How the War Against Ukraine Reshaped Russia’s Elite

    How did Putin co-opt Russia’s political and economic elites, ensuring no more than fitful resistance to the regime’s war on Ukraine?

      Alexandra Prokopenko

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Will Russia–Armenia Relations Improve Following Pashinyan’s Re-Election?

    For all the menacing rhetoric, the Armenian prime minister remains a leader with whom Putin is prepared to interact: not as an ally, but as a partner, albeit a problematic one.

      • Alexander Atasuntsev

      Alexander Atasuntsev

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
Carnegie Russia Eurasia logo, white
  • Research
  • Politika
  • About
  • Experts
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • For Media
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.