Political Islam Withers Across Middle East After Nearly 50 Years of Failed Rule
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 15
Political Islam Withers Across Middle East After Nearly 50 Years of Failed Rule
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 15
Summary
Islamist movements across the Middle East are now broadly on the back foot, after decades in which political Islam promised just governance but failed to deliver durable success.
Nearly 50 years after Iran’s 1979 revolution offered the region’s clearest model of clerical rule, many Islamist governments, parties and movements have either lost power, faltered in office or failed to turn ideology into effective statecraft.
Iran still stands as the most prominent experiment in political Islam, having sustained clerical rule while building a formidable military even through its current war with the United States and Israel.
Across the wider Muslim world, states and parties still invoke Islam in law and politics, but the broader regional trend points to shrinking influence for organized Islamist forces rather than renewed momentum.