Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 08/2014

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Failures

Ashraf El-Sherif

July 2014

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abstract

To understand Egypt’s current political situation, it is crucial to examine how and why the Muslim Brotherhood—a leading political actor just over a year ago—met its demise so suddenly and forcefully. Though it had to operate in a hostile political environment, the Brotherhood ultimately fell because of its own political, ideological, and organizational failures.