Past Events

The Arab Spring and AfterDear Friends,After days of violent demonstrations aimed at reclaiming the revolution, Egyptians went to the polls last week to vote for a new parliament. Preliminary reports favor the Muslim Brotherhood and related groups. The previous week, conservative Islamic groups won a resounding victory in Morocco's elections, and in October, Ennahda, Tunisia's Islamist party won a clear victory. In all three countries, groups referencing Islam take positions of moderation, pointing to Islam as a set of values, rather than a set of laws, and posit themselves as the opposite of the regimes they replace. They are opaque on specifics and use words that can be defined in multiple ways.Though sometimes, the intentions slip out, such as when Mr. Hamadi Jebeli, Secretary General of Tunisia's Ennahda says, "God willing, we are entering the sixth caliphate." Or when the head of the transitional council of Libya calls for liberalization of polygamy laws. The political process is now dominated by the organized, well-networked Islamists.However, WLP partners in our recent meeting were adamant about their optimism for the future.