From nasser’s revolution to the fall of the muslim brotherhood

Abstract

The fall of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement might be discerned as a matter of politics, economics, theology, and culture; but, steeped in complexity, it is many, many things. This chapter compares and contrasts the experiences of both President Nasser (1952""1970) and the MB"™s rule (2012""2013) to explain the significance of Egypt"™s geopolitics and the role of Egypt"™s geography and history in the outcome of both experiences. Based on a long scholarly tradition of some of Egypt"™s distinguished scholars and historians, I argue that Egypt"™s geopolitical dimension and the ongoing regional antagonisms and transformations contributed to the downfall of the MB movement. Similar to both Sadat and Mubarak, but unlike President Nasser, the MB failed to grasp the uniqueness of Egypt"™s geopolitics and the political implications of both Egypt"™s history and geography. Based on a re-reading of what I call "œNasser"™s Revolution," this chapter both assesses and questions examples of the political performance of President Mursi during his single year in power. It shows that the movement"™s comprehension of the significance of Egypt"™s history and geography, and by implications their failure to perceive the nature of the ongoing Arab popular uprisings, were among the underlying factors that led to its political downfall.