The New Faces of Political Islam in the Middle East

This book provides a survey of the political situation in 15 Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa and provides overviews of associated post-Arab Spring politics, with an emphasis of political Islamist movements. A translation from its original in Bahasa Indonesia, the book critically assesses the concept of post-Islamism from an Indonesian perspective. It argues that the wave of democratization in the Middle East following the Arab Spring failed to create an open democratic life in the region, except in the country where the Arab Spring began, Tunisia. Rather, it has left growing conflicts and destabilization in the region, with the rise of new authoritarianism. The authors simultaneously show that Islamic political movements in general are adaptive in the face of the changing political environment post-Arab Spring. They present the example of the Muslim Brotherhood as a movement with distinctive characteristics and high levels of adaptability in changing socio-political environments. It is relevant to advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying and researching contemporary Arab or Islamist movements and to scholars look for a neat comparative survey of countries after the Arab Spring.