Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

The Facebook Revolution

The Iranian government recently unblocked Facebook..

Supporting the Opposition, in All its Forms

At the Guardian, Sara Khorshid argues that “by favoring liberals, America is marginalizing the majority within the Egyptian opposition;” and this ultimately leads to strengthening anti-U.S. sentiment. She cautions against favoring one element of the opposition over the other, stressing that “sincere U.S. pro-democracy policies…and letting people choose for themselves, will consolidate Obama’s success in improving the U.S. image in the Muslim world.” ..

Clinton Promises Dialogue with Egypt on Democracy

Before her meeting with a group of Egyptian democracy activists, Secretary Clinton was asked by a reporter about Egypt’s progress on human rights and democracy. Although she avoided addressing that question directly, she did say that she does raise human rights and democracy issues with the Egyptian government:..

Taking Sides in Lebanon’s Election

When Vice President Joe Biden visited Lebanon last week in the run-up to its parliamentary election, he said...

Silencing Dissent in Israel?

According to the Economist, the bill outlawing Nakba demonstrations is unlikely to make it onto Israel’s statute book...

The Global Engagement Directive

Marc Lynch discusses the recent move by the Obama administration to create a desk at the National Security Council for “global engagement” ..

Reform Comes to Libya?

At Foreign Policy, Sarah Leah Whitson discusses how Libya is experiencing its own Arab Spring of sorts, arguing that ..

A Focus on Abbas

Jackson Diehl, in The Washington Post, discusses the current strategy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which he believes is centered around waiting. According to Diehl,..

Winning the War, then Keeping the Peace

The Economist tells Pakistan that in regards to the offensive with the Taliban “after the battle, prove you’re a state.” ..

Elections in Mauritania

While Mauritania will hold elections on June 6, no major opposition figures will participate and the election of General Muhammad Ould Abdel-Aziz, who led the August 2008 coup, is nearly certain...

Obama’s Balancing Act

At The New Republic, William Galston argues that how artfully President Obama balances the competing interests of enlisting active Egyptian support in the peace process and reversing the harmful effects of supporting authoritarian regimes “will go a long way toward determining whether his trip succeeds in putting America’s relations with the Muslim world on a more productive and sustainable course.”..

Supporting Lebanon’s Democracy

In The Financial Times, Roula Khalaf calls on the Obama administration to support the outcome of Lebanon’s elections - ..

Foreshadowing the Egypt Speech

Scott Carpenter of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy published a new PolicyWatch which foreshadows President Obama’s upcoming speech in Egypt. The main focuses of Obama’s speech are well known, ..

Groups Lobby President Ahead of Speech

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) released an open letter to “President Obama and the Muslim World” today which offers a “Muslim perspective on what governments, leaders and individuals can do to improve the prospects for international peace and prosperity.”..

Miliband Calls for Fair Engagement with Islamists

“To broaden the coalition and win consent, we need to understand the Muslim world better, or we will risk undermining the force of our own argument, as I have sometimes done when using the labels ‘moderate’ and ‘extremist’; we need to hold fast to our own values and support those who seek to apply them, or we will be guilty of hypocrisy; and we need shared effort to address the grievances, socio-economic and political, that are perceived to keep Muslims down, and in fact do”, said Mili..

1,350 Experts and Leaders Urge President Obama to Support HR and Democracy in the Middle East

Improving relations between the United States and Middle Eastern nations is not simply a matter of changing some policies here and there. For too long, U.S. policy toward the Middle East has been fundamentally misguided. The United States, for half a century, has frequently supported repressive regimes that routinely violate human rights, and that torture and imprison those who dare criticize them and prevent their citizens from participation in peaceful civic and political activiti..

Looking Forward: An Integrated Strategy for Supporting Democracy and Human Rights in Egypt

Given longstanding American policy, the U.S. cannot be neutral on reform and human rights in Egypt. As a large stakeholder providing the Egyptian government with more than $1.5 billion in aid annually, the United States will, by default, be on the side of the authoritarian status quo if it does not demonstrate a commitment to the rights of the Egyptian people. On the other hand, the U.S. relationship with the Egyptian regime also serves American strategic interests, and any attempt to ..

Gates: Egyptian Military Aid Not Conditional on Democracy, Human Rights

After meeting with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared that U.S. military assistance to Egypt would not be tied to Egypt’s record on democracy or human rights, according to a report (in Arabic) by al-Jazeera mentioned by Marc Lynch. As Lynch notes..

Conspiracy?

Rannie Amiri writes in Middle East Online that Hosni Mubarak’s decline in domestic legitimacy has been accompanied with an increase in the autocrat’s paranoia..

The Dangers of the Iranian Blogosphere

A Washington Times editorial highlights the “world’s bravest bloggers.” Hailing from Iran at 80,000 strong, they live under “constant threat of surveillance, harassment and imprisonment.” Iran’s blogosphere took off in 2001, as more and more journalists were forced out of their jobs and set up shop online..