PrintAugust 28, 2013
The 'Strong Horse' Falters
Why is this coup different from all other coups? Why are Egyptians still fighting and dying in the streets of Cairo?
Because the Muslim Brotherhood is not just another political organization; and because Egypt is not just another country.
The toppling of the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi and the slow-motion civil war developing in its aftermath is likely even bigger news than we yet realize. The takedown of the Brotherhood in the land of its birth creates an existential crisis not only for its Egyptian supporters, but across the Islamist world.
The Brotherhood and the Islamist forces it has spawned are a uniquely triumphalist mix of religion and politics. They are supremely confident in the correctness of their theo-totalitarianism, geopolitical vision, and ultimate victory in a way difficult to appreciate from the relativist Western perspective.
In no Western country could a major religious group matter-of-factly vow to "kill all Jews" or routinely torch churches....(Read Full Article)
