The Impact of Authoritarian Systems on the Rise of Transnational Islamist Movements
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The American University in Cairo School of Humanities and Social Sciences The Impact of Authoritarian Systems on the Rise of Transnational Islamist Movements: Egypt, Saudi Arabia & the Path to Al Qaeda A Thesis submitted to the Political Science Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN Political Science By Réhab El-Bakry Dr. Maye Kassem, Adviser May 2010 THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO THE IMPACT OF AUTHORITARIAN SYSTEMS ON THE RISE OF TRANSNATIONAL ISLAMIST MOVEMENTS: EGYPT, SAUDIA ARABIA AND THE PATH TO AL QAEDA A THESIS SUBMITTED BY: REHAB EL-BAKRY TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE MAY/2010 IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS HAS BEEN APPROVED BY Dr. Maye Kassem Thesis Committee Advisor-------------------------------------------------------------------- Affiliation---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Dan Tschirgi) Thesis Committee Reader ------------------------------------------------------------------- Affiliation---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Holger Albrecht Thesis Committee Reader -------------------------------------------------------------------- Affiliation---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- -------------- -------------------- -------------- Department Chair Date Dean of HUSS Date 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT This work has been a long time in the making. Throughout this time I have been blessed with the help and support of so many people who enriched my life with their encouragement. They always believed in my ability to finish this. I feel very fortunate to have come up with such an interesting area of study that helped me better understand the nature of human beings, including myself. This work was born out of the true desire to understand those who misrepresent my faith. More importantly, my desire to find ways to combat them without the use of violence. Despite what I found out in the course of my study, I am still a firm believer in the goodness of people and that good will prevail. I would first like to thank God for helping me get through this. I hope I have learned the lessons I was supposed to learn in His plan for me – I am not invincible, I make bad decisions and can fall off the path be that in my education or in life. I would like to thank all my professors at the University of King‟s College and Dalhousie University in Canada who have nurtured my inquisitiveness and gave me the tools to channel it to do good for others. I would like to thank my professors at The American University in Cairo, who have taught me everything I know about this area and pushed me to ask questions until I find the answers. Dr. Maye Kassem, my advisor and mentor, who had faith in my abilities as a student, but more importantly as a person, than I ever thought I deserved. I would also like to thank my family. Mom and Dad (Mona & Hussein) you gave me the tools to be a good journalist, a good thinker but most importantly, a good human being. Rania, my only sister, thank you for the patience you had as I spent years talking about this thesis while taking forever to write it. And thank you for reading it over and over again. You three anchored me through it all. Your love and support is the most important thing I have. My grandparents, I love you and wished you were here with me right now. I hope you are proud. Hedi, my best friend, you are truly a treasure and I am lucky to have you. Last but not least, thanks to all my friends who stressed over this as much as I did, the Second Cup gang and the staff of Second Cup (Mohandeseen) for taking care of me with endless cups of coffee. Thank you all so very much….. 3 ABSTRACT The events of September 11, 2001 have had a profound impact on the world we live in today. Not only have they changed the perception of rights and freedoms in both the developed and developing worlds, but these events brought violent political Islamist movements from the fringes of international politics to the forefront of world politics. Suddenly movements that were once seen as an issue for the Muslim world became a concern for countries worldwide as they struggled to understand the causes behind the rise of Islamist violence and figure out ways to address it. By and large, Islamist movements, violent and non-violent, find roots in the Arab world. The authoritarian nature of these systems, which prioritizes stability of the system and the ability of regimes to remain in power over inclusion of the public and various opposition groups, have often dealt with these movements through attempts of cooption into the system or isolation, which ranges from preventing them from participating in the legitimate system to full repression through incarceration and torture. It is largely due to isolation by these systems that many Islamist movements have not only turned to violence but adopted transnational modes of operation whereby a movement based in one country will carry out violent activities in a second to bring about change in a third. This study trances the dealings of the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian governments with their respective Islamist movements with particular emphasis on tactics of cooption and isolation adopted by these governments. It also argues that these tactics played a fundamental role in driving these movements to alter their mode of operation from limiting their activities within the confines of the political system of individual countries to adopting global jihad against the states that help maintain these authoritarian systems in place. The end result Al Qaeda is hoping to achieve is the recreation of the Islamic Ummah, through the declaration of global jihad. Based on the study, a series of actions are recommended for several players including political analysts, the media, and political players both on the international and regional levels. These actions include the need for expanding authoritarian political theory to allow for the analysis of these new movements and to predict their future activities. Efforts need to be made to distinguish between Islam as a religion and political movements derived from it. There is also a need for limiting the demonization of Islam by the media in order to reduce the feeling that the religion is under attack, which would reduce the attraction of radical ideologies to young Muslims. 4 Table of Content: Chapter 1: Introduction & Theoretical Framework ------------------------------------ Page 6 1.1 Theoretical Framework of the Study ------------------------------------------------ Page 10 1.2 Authoritarian Theory-------------------------------------------------------------------Page 16 Chapter 2: Egypt &Islamist Movements -------------------------------------------------- Page 28 2.1 The Roots of Contemporary Islamist Political Ideology --------------------------Page 29 2.2 Islamist Movements & the Nasser Government ------------------------------------Page 36 2.3 Islamist Movements & the Sadat Government --------------------------------------Page 44 2.4 Islamist Movements & the Mubarak Government ----------------------------------Page 58 2.4.1 Period from 1981 to 1990 -------------------------------------------------------Page 58 2.4.2 Period from 1990 to 2000 -------------------------------------------------------Page 68 2.4.3 Period from 2000 to Present ----------------------------------------------------Page 81 2.4.4 The Impact of 9/11----------------------------------------------------------------Page 84 Chapter 3: Saudi Arabia & Islamist Movements -----------------------------------------Page 90 3.1 Saudi Arabia & the Rise of Wahhabi Islam------------------------------------------ Page 91 3.2 The Modern Saudi State & Islamism ------------------------------------------------- Page 102 3.3 The Saudi Government & the Rise of Al Qaeda -------------------------------------Page 111 Chapter 4: The Making of Al Qaeda ------------------------------------------------------- Page 126 4.1 Afghanistan: The first Meeting Ground---------------------------------------------- Page 127 4.2 Moving to Sudan: Laying the Foundation------------------------------------------- Page 136 4.3 Afghanistan: The Promised Land of Jihad-------------------------------------------Page 143 4.4 The Aftermath of 9/11 ------------------------------------------------------------------Page 151 Chapter 5: Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 155 Bibliography --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 173 5 1. INTRODUCTION & THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK For much of the past decade, the international community has been preoccupied with trying to address the issue of violent Islamist movements. Although these movements have existed for much of the twentieth century, the rise of Al Qaeda as the first transnational Islamist movements that declared global jihad on the Western world as well as countries of the Islamic world marked a shift in the mode of operation for these movements. Previously characterized as domestic movements of the Arab and Muslim worlds seeking to bring about regime changes either through the use of the legitimate political system or through the use of violence, the drastic shift adopted by these movements propelled them to the top of the list of issues that need to be dealt with in a global setting. Suddenly these movements