Careful what you pray for – Morsi’s coup may not have much to do with Islamism

Ellis Goldberg provides extensive background on recent events in Egypt. His speculative conclusion suggests that, as might have been predicted, political developments in Egypt are being determined primarily by questions of sovereignty and systemic adjustment rather than by ideology, whether liberal-democratic, Islamist, or Egyptian-nationalist:

Morsi is certainly an Islamist and he was long a member of the MB as well as the head of its political wing, the FJP.  It is possible, however, the SCAF speaking for the Armed Forces as an institution was willing to cede power to Morsi and the presidency.  Not to the MB or the FJP and not to the parliamentary system.  But to Morsi himself acting as the elected president.  Morsi, who has chosen to address the public frequently from mosques, is still an Islamist and the Islamist project has nothing to fear from him.  Recruitment to high levels of government has probably gained a new channel and a new social base:members of Islamist movements from the professional elites as well as through the military.  But, as I will address in my next post, the role of the MB and the FJP as organizations may not be so clear.  The MB/FJP may very hold a larger majority in the next parliament in the last but they will do so as the president’s party not as an independent political organization.  The current MB and FJP leadership may yet come to regret his election and the Salafis whose disdain for hierarchical organization may regret it even more.

3 comments on “Careful what you pray for – Morsi’s coup may not have much to do with Islamism

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  1. File this under ‘it’s just a flesh wound’ where is the institutional check on Morsi, which is the point of the exercise, the Baath weren’t all happy of this footsoldier from Tikrit, but that ended up besides the poinr.

  2. pretty good article, but I doubt that he or any or us really knows just how the struggle is going….. however his thoughts do suggest that the armed forces might do well in Egypt by adopting the strategy being used by the Republicans in the country lately….. let Morsi seem to be in charge, frustrate every single thing that he attempts to accomplish, and then paint his butt as a total failure and let him plummet in public opinion for not having met the risen expectations of the populace.

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