Repression of Islamists and Authoritarian Survival in the Arab World: A Case Study of Egypt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Lachapelle
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
State Repression ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Authoritarian Survival

This chapter explores the causes of state repression against Islamist organizations in the Arab world. Advancing a rich literature on state repression, authoritarianism, and Islamist politics, it proposes a new approach that centers on the role of non-Islamist audiences for explaining the repression of Islamists. Specifically, the chapter argues that when society is divided between non-Islamists and Islamists, an autocrat can repress Islamists to signal a commitment to non-Islamists to protect them from perceived threats by Islamists. It provides supporting evidence from Egypt, which shows how large-scale repression directed at the Muslim Brotherhood after the coup of 2013 served to cultivate the support of non-Islamists.

Repression Reconsidered: Bystander Effects and Legitimation in Authoritarian Regimes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Lachapelle
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Autocratic Regime ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Destructive Potential

Research on repression has primarily focused on its destructive potential, namely how violence serves to eliminate threats. This article proposes an alternative role for repression: to build popular support. I argue that repression builds support for an autocratic regime when it targets groups perceived as dangerous. I refer to this phenomenon as a legitimation strategy of repression, which aims to gain the support of civilian bystanders beyond eliminating threats. To test the argument, I present a case study of state repression in Egypt after the 2013 coup. I explain how repression against the Muslim Brotherhood helped build popular support for the new regime. My findings contribute to scholarship on authoritarianism and repression by demonstrating the oft-overlooked role of civilian bystanders in shaping state violence.

scholarly journals Securitizing the Muslim Brotherhood: State violence and authoritarianism in Egypt after the Arab Spring

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pratt ◽  
Dina Rezk
Keyword(s):  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Securitization Theory ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Arab Spring

Unprecedented levels of state violence against the Muslim Brotherhood, and the widespread acceptance of this violence by Egyptians following the July 2013 military coup, have been under-examined by scholars of both critical security studies and Middle East politics, reflecting implicit assumptions that state violence is unexceptional beyond Europe. This article explores how the deployment of such levels of violence was enabled by a securitization process in which the Egyptian military successfully appropriated popular opposition to Muslim Brotherhood rule, constructing the group as an existential threat to Egypt and justifying special measures against it. The article builds on existing critiques of the Eurocentrism of securitization theory, alongside the writings of Antonio Gramsci, to further refine its application to non-democratic contexts. In addition to revealing the exceptionalism of state violence against the Muslim Brotherhood and highlighting the important role of nominally non-state actors in constructing the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to Egypt, the article also signals the role of securitization in re-establishing authoritarian rule in the wake of the 2011 uprising. Thus, we argue that securitization not only constitutes a break from ‘normal politics’ but may also be integral to the reconstitution of ‘normal politics’ following a period of transition.

Post-Islamism in Distress? A Critical Evaluation of the Theory in Islamist-Dominated Egypt (11 February 2011-3 July 2013)

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Robbert A.F.L. Woltering
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Middle Eastern Studies ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Tunisian Revolution

The developments in the Arab world since the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution not only open up new horizons for Arab citizens, they also allow for scholars of Middle Eastern studies to test certain theories in ways heretofore impossible. One such theory is that of post-Islamism. This paper discusses a number of recent publications by former members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in light of recent developments in and analysis of Egypt’s Islamist politics, with the aim of determining whether it is possible (and useful) to speak of a ‘post-Islamist condition’ in the post-Mubarak period wherein the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power. 


Monarchs and Mamluks, or How Do You Say “Thank You” for $20 Billion

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Richard W. Bulliet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Arab Spring

The causes and processes of the Arab Spring movements are less important for current political developments than the responses to those movements by states that were not directly involved. After discussing the Turkish, Israeli, Iranian, and American responses, the focus turns to the recently announced military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Did the Saudi government conspire with the Egyptian high command to plot the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Cairo? If so, as seems likely, was the United States aware of the conspiracy? More importantly, what does the linkage between the Egyptian army and Saudi and Gulf financial support for President al-Sisi's regime suggest for the future of stability and legitimate rule in the Arab world?

Relationship between meningitis occurrence and atmospheric conditions over the African meningitis belt

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheikh Dione ◽  
Mame Diarra Diouf ◽  
Bob Alex Ogwang ◽  
Elijah Adesanya Adefisan ◽  
Steve Woolnough ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Lassa Fever ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Numerical Weather ◽  
Endemic Diseases ◽  
Meningitis Belt ◽  
Weather And Climate

<p> The alternation of seasons over tropical northern Africa is associated with the occurrence of devastating diseases such as meningitis, Lassa fever and malaria. These tropical diseases are associated with specific atmospheric conditions. Thus, meningitis is one of the most endemic diseases observed over this region with a prevalence period up to 7 months (December-June). Previous studies based on the link between atmospheric conditions and the occurrence of meningitis outbreaks have shown that this disease develops under dry and dusty atmospheric conditions which are difficult to represent in numerical weather and climate models. However, the onset, breakup, and sub-seasonal variability of meningitis outbreaks are not well documented. The objective of this study is to identify the local and synoptic drivers favoring the large occurrence of this disease over the meningitis belt in order to improve its predictability by numerical weather and climate models on intra-seasonal and seasonal timescales. This study focuses on two cases studies of meningitis epidemics over Niger in 2009 and 2015. The case study of 2009 started early with a duration of more than eight weeks. The second case study was shorter than the first one. It took three weeks and was observed at the end of the dry season. Based on ERA5 data, surface dust concentration observations and satellite data, a further analysis of the role of climate metrics on the triggering of meningitis epidemics on intra-seasonal timescales at local and large scale atmospheric conditions will be presented.</p>

Narrative Account of the Arab Spring: Translations of Aljazeera and RT of the Egyptian and Syrian Uprisings as Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 819
Author(s):  
Haitham A. Aldreabi
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Cultural Representations ◽  
Media Messages ◽  
Reality Construction ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Arab Spring

the events of the Arab Spring attracted the attention of many scholars from various disciplines. However, the general trend of existing literature seems to ignore the different cultural representations within the Arab world leading for assumptions that the uprisings share similar outcomes and/or motivations. This article attempts to deconstruct the terms Arab Spring and Arab world through shedding light on two of the most influential uprisings that brought about social, economic, and political changes. To do so, it combines CDA and narrative theory to address the subject of the thematic nature of the subsequent media messages during the Egyptian and Syrian uprisings to investigate the process of meaning-making and the role of language in social reality construction. The purpose is to motivate researchers to address the largely ignored issue of the different representations in media and narratives.

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