#1268 Pipes asks "Must Islamists Be Autocratic?" at NRO blog

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Please take a moment to visit and log in at the subscriber area, and submit your city & country location. We will use this information in future to invite you to any events that we organize in your area. Dear Reader: One television and three radio shows, mostly on Egypt: "Recent developments in Egypt." RTTV, July 5, 2013. http://www.danielpipes.org/13076/recent-developments-in-egypt  "The Latest on Egypt." The Dana Loesch Show, July 8, 2013 http://www.danielpipes.org/13075/latest-on-egypt "Discussing Egypt and Islam." The Dennis Prager Show, July 8, 2013. http://www.danielpipes.org/13081/egypt-islam "Understanding Egypt." The Steve Malzberg Show, Newsmax, July 17, 2013. http://www.danielpipes.org/13110/understanding-egypt Yours sincerely, Daniel Pipes  Must Islamists Be Autocratic? by Daniel Pipes July 19, 2013 Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/07/must-islamists-be-autocratic Print Send Comment RSS Share: Be the first of your friends to like this. Mohamed Morsi's recent ejection as president of Egypt prompts a contrast-and-compare with his Turkish counterpart, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Their careers at the top contain major dissimilarities: Morsi's stunning economic indifference vs. Erdoğan's very impressive economic management. Imposing Islamic ways too fast and broadly in on year vs. applying them slowly and piecemeal in a decade. Inspiring the largest political protest in human history vs. winning three elections with successively larger percentages of the vote. Antagonizing the deep state vs. patiently sidelining it. Being removed from office by the military vs. removing the military from politics. In brief, Morsi is as incompetent as Erdoğan is competent. These differences aside, Erdoğan and Morsi, who are mutual admirers, share two key features: wanting to bring their countries in compliance with the Shari'a, the law of Islam, and displaying an autocratic streak, a characteristic which helped undo Morsi and could well wreck Erdoğan's career. Which leaves me wondering: Is their shared anti-democratic enraged sputtering at dissent just coincidence? Does it reflect the dictatorial quality of their political formations (Necmettin Erbakan's various parties and the Muslim Brotherhood, respectively)? Or does it reveal something inherent about the Islamist program itself? Gülen, Erdoğan, Gül. I am inclined to see it as inherent … except that some Islamists in Turkey, host of the world's most sophisticated Islamist scene, appear to becoming less autocratic. The president, Abdullah Gül, and the leader of the chief Turkish Islamist organization, Fethullah Gülen, are apparently evolving away from the dictatorial mentality. Gül's caution and democratic sensibility in response to the Gezi Park protests could lead to his becoming Erdoğan's successor. How Gül and Gülen respond to an increasingly erratic Erdoğan has probably major implications for the future of the Islamist movement. Keep an eye on those two. (July 19, 2013) Related Topics:  Egypt, Radical Islam, Turkey and Turks This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.

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