While Algeria’s Islamist have been emboldened by victories of their Islamist counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia, the expected outcome of the May 10 Elections in Algeria will most likely be more similar to Morocco, where Islamists control parliament with no real change in the status quo, writes Robert Parks  in Jadaliyya. Noting that Islamists in Algeria have been gradually included into the political scene since 1995, Parks opines that the Algerian ...

An Egyptian court on Tuesday invalidated the work of the Constituent Assembly, which was tasked with  creating a new constitution. Juan Cole writes in Informed Comment that the Constituent Assembly was, “overly stacked with Muslim fundamentalists and is unrepresentative of Egyptian society.” A top judge, Zaghloul al-Balshy, said that the decision means, “the make-up of the assembly has to be reconsidered and the new representation has to represent the entire society.” The Constituent ...

On Wednesday, the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University hosted a panel of members of the political arm of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). The panelists included Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, a Freedom and Justice member of parliament from Luxor and a member on parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee; Hussein El-Kazzaz, an economic advisor for the Muslim Brotherhood and Freedom and Justice Party; Sondos ...

On Thursday, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University hosted a discussion entitled ‘The Rise of Islamist Parties in the New Middle East’. The panel featured Dr. Jocelyne Cesari, Director of the Harvard Islam in the West Program and Dr. Nathan Brown, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Aaron Lobel, President of America Abroad ...

Writing in Foreign Policy, director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Program at the University of Exeter Omar Ashour discusses the development and formation of the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The Libyan MB, he writes, announced on March 3rd the establishment of the Justice and Construction party, showing signs that Libya is likely to follow the “electoral path of Islamist success” seen across other Arab countries. Long oppressed and ...

In the recent parliamentary elections, Iranian media reported that 64 percent of the 48 million Iranians eligible to vote participated in the polls on Friday. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was able to consolidate his power:  Khamenei loyalists won over 75 percent of seats, with widespread defeats for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters - including his sister Parvin Ahmadinejad. Analyst Hamid Farahvashian believes "the vote showed that there is a deepening rift between the ruling elites... it might ...

FRIDE released a report this month discussing the role religion will play in the ongoing transitions to democracy across the MENA region. The report discussed the emergence of Islamist parties into the political sphere, some new and some established, and the implications of the ideologies on their political decisions. Religion has always been " a major force of Arab Politics." According to the report, the success of Islamist parties can be attributed to their ...

On Tuesday, the American University International Law Review hosted a symposium discussing “The Impact of the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa: Building the Rule of Law and the Role of the International Community in Domestic Conflicts.” The first of a series of five consecutive panels addressed the social and legal origins of the Arab Spring. The panel featured Jonathan Brown, assistant professor at Georgetown University, Stephen ...

On Wednesday, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion about the state of the Egyptian revolution. Panelists included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Tamara Wittes, Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow Robin Wright, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center Shadi Hamid, and Brookings Institution Vice President for Foreign Policy Martin Indyk. The moderator was David Gregory from NBC’s Meet the Press. For full event notes, continue reading below. ...

On Tuesday, the Berkley Center for Religious Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University hosted a discussion on the book Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide. The speakers were the authors Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom, and Nina Shea, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Center for Religious Freedom. The discussion was moderated ...