Recommended. All levels.

Choice

Drawing on substantial research and years of public service, Nawaf Obaid has produced a serious, substantive guide for understanding the phenomenon of radical political Islam in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular. The issue is not Islam, as he indicates, but the use of Islam for malign political objectives. The book is important for academics and policy makers alike.

Daniel Kurtzer, Professor of Middle East Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA

Nawaf Obaid is one of the wisest Arab foreign policy analysts around. In this book he offers a searching analysis of the political and religious battles that have been shaking the Middle East-and also explains their roots. This book is a must for anyone who's serious about decoding the Muslim Brotherhood and the violent sandstorms that surround it. Scholars are lucky to have analysts like Obaid who can think, write and explain.

David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post

This book documents excellently the failure of the Muslim Brotherhood to gain and retain power in the Middle East. By assessing the experiences of the Muslim Brotherhood or its offshoots in each of the relevant countries in the Middle East, the book provides not only information on the failure but more importantly a historical analysis of the basis of the failure. One leaves the book clearly understanding that the Muslim Brotherhood never had a clear vision and detailed plan of state-building since its ideology of the Muslim Umma excludes the concept of nation-state.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Former Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund, and Former Member, Shura Council (Consultative Council), Saudi Arabia