Article
The article ‘Egypt risks the fire of radicalization’ is authored by Husain Ed. In addition, the article was written in Egypt during the protests against Muslim Brotherhood. The article is found in The New York Times.
Synopsis
The article discusses ongoing Egypt’s protests to oust President Mohamed Morsi. The article reminds the reader of the preceding events that brought the current president into office. From this context, the author revisits the establishment of Muslim Brotherhood and subsequent ascendance into power through a democratic process. President Morsi failures in office are described as unfortunate as they seem to anger millions of protestors in Egypt. The article questions the objective of the protest since the consequences are that Islam extremist will succeed the Brotherhood regime. The author attributes the Brotherhood remarkable shift of politics to positive ideologies. The author recommends a shift of attitude by President Morsi as a way of legitimizing his tenure in office.
Main points and analysis
The author denounces Muslim brotherhood as a wrong political outfit that politicizes religion. In this regard, the author claims that Islamism in Egypt has its limitations and benefits. Moreover, Egypt has been used in the article as an experiment of Islam radicalism. In addition, the author attributes Egypt’s violent history to the rise of Muslim Brotherhood since 1928. The article recounts how Muslim Brotherhood was viewed as extremist until June 2012 when the outfit won in a democratic election. However, the Brotherhood has resulted to attacks on religious minorities, corruption and socio-economic failures.
Moreover, Salafist radicalism has been on the rise since President Morsi came into power. The author alleges that overthrowing a democratically elected president is a precedence of anarchy and military dictatorship. Moreover, the Brotherhood has made positive strides in integrating Islamism into the modern world. This has been made possible through fighting anti-Americanism in the Muslim world. According to the author, Brotherhood leaders perceive the United States as an ally, as well as Israel. Another important achievement of the Brotherhood is the increasing efforts to initiate peace between Arabic nations and Israel. The author believes that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood holds the key to democracy in Islamist states. Therefore, the fall of the Brotherhood will subsequently cause outright radicalism in Egypt by the Salafists. Finally, the author recommends that President Morsi change his political ideology to ensure that the country does not suffer from radicalism.
Lessons
The article provides insightful information about Egypt’s ongoing protest. The article provides a historical analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Moreover, the article evaluates the achievement and failures of the Brotherhood regime. However, the article does not provide detailed information on how Arab secularists are challenging current leadership. In addition, the article does not outline how western countries are benefitting from the Brotherhood. From the article, it is not clear how radicalism has not been defined for the reader’s understanding.
Strengths and weaknesses
The article is articulate and is based on real events in Egypt. The article uses accurate dates of events since the author seems to highlight Egypt’s current protests in a chronological manner. The author’s knowledge about Islamism and Egypt’s political situation is strength to the article. However, the article is based on a political opinion and not on empirical study. Another weakness of the article is lack of experts’ opinion on current issues. The author’s assumptions render implies biasness and lack of objectivity.
Conclusion
The article on Egypt’s protests provides insightful information about the country’s current political situation. From the article, the reader understands the dangers of radicalism as implied by the author. From the article, one understands how radicalism affects the socio-economic status of a country. In addition, the article provides a basis for further research on Islamism, radicalism and Muslim Brotherhood.
Works Cited
Husain, Ed. “Egypt risks the fire of radicalization”. The New York Times. 2013. Print.