After the Fall: The Muslim Brotherhood's Post Coup Strategy

Abstract

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt struggles to find a strategy of survival. After the military coup in early July 2013, during which hundreds of its members and supporters were killed by the army, many observers of the post-coup situation assume that the MB as a whole will go underground. Yet, this is unlikely. Even if– as has happened in recent weeks–many Muslim Brothers (MB) are arrested, numerous activists are extrajudicially killed in jails, and the organization is earmarked to be dissolved and its unlicensed clerics forbidden to preach - it will not break its backbone.[1] The Brotherhood will manage to reorganize as a mosaique of social, political and religious networks. This is due to its strategic flexibility and its ability to appeal to the most diverse sectors of society through its combination of social, political and practical actions. The historic record shows how the MB survived earlier waves of repression and indicates that the latest wave of repression will not be its end.