Aaron Y. Zelin is the Gloria and Ken Levy Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where his research focuses on Sunni Arab jihadi groups in North Africa and Syria as well as the trend of foreign fighting and online jihadism.
Articles & Testimony
An expert on jihadist movements compares Egypt's latest crackdown on the Brotherhood with past efforts to suppress the group.
To better understand the Egyptian transitional government's current crackdown against Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters, it is important to look back at what happened the last time Cairo undertook large-scale suppression of the group: in 1954, following the rise of Gamal Abdul Nasser. Over the next decade and a half, elements within the Ikhwan broke away from the movement in response to that suppression, believing that accommodation with the regime was illegitimate and that the only solution was to overthrow military rule.
Might a similar scenario play out in the coming years? To address this question, Washington Institute expert Aaron Zelin has compiled a special report titled "Socio-political Background and Intellectual Undergirding of the Ikhwani Breakaway Factions: 1954-1981." Originally released on his website Jihadology.net, the report delves into the history of Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb and the underground jihadist movements that sprouted in Egypt in his wake. It also explores the radicalization of these movements via the ideas of Muhammad Abd al-Salam Farag, the leader of the group responsible for Anwar Sadat's assassination.
