Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days

How did Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood win power so quickly after the dramatic "Arab Spring" uprising that ended President Hosni Mubarak's thirty-year reign in February 2011? And why did the Brotherhood fall from power even more quickly, culminating with the popular "rebellion" and military coup that toppled Egypt's first elected president, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013? In Arab Fall, Eric Trager examines the Brotherhood's decision making throughout this critical period, explaining its reasons for joining the 2011 uprising, running for a majority of the seats in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections, and nominating a presidential candidate despite its initial promise not to do so. Based on extensive research in Egypt and interviews with dozens of Brotherhood leaders and cadres including Morsi, Trager argues that the very organizational characteristics that helped the Brotherhood win power also contributed to its rapid downfall. The Brotherhood's intensive process for recruiting members and its rigid nationwide command-chain meant that it possessed unparalleled mobilizing capabilities for winning the first post-Mubarak parliamentary and presidential elections. Yet the Brotherhood's hierarchical organizational culture, in which dissenters are banished and critics are viewed as enemies of Islam, bred exclusivism. This alienated many Egyptians, including many within Egypt's state institutions. The Brotherhood's insularity also prevented its leaders from recognizing how quickly the country was slipping from their grasp, leaving hundreds of thousands of Muslim Brothers entirely unprepared for the brutal crackdown that followed Morsi's overthrow. Trager concludes with an assessment of the current state of Egyptian politics and examines the Brotherhood's prospects for reemerging.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Rapid Rise, Faster Fall 1. Late to the Revolution 2. An Islamist Vanguard 3. Postrevolutionary Posturing 4. Preparing for Power 5. The Road to Parliament 6. Powerless Parliamentarians 7. The Road to Ittahidiya Palace 8. The Power Struggle Continues 9. Power, Not Policy 10. The Power Grab 11. In Power but Not In Control 12. The Rebellion Conclusion: Broken Brothers Appendix: InterviewsNotes Select Bibliography IndexAbout the Author

About the Author :
Eric Trager is the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where his research focuses on Egyptian politics. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and elsewhere.

Review :
The book's wealth of detail may challenge the lay reader, but it is indispensable not just for its account of how the Brothers failed so disastrously at governing Egypt but also equally for its analysis of how Washington failed so completely to understand them. Asks a very big question and delivers an unequivocal answer. First-class . . . A brilliantly-researched book that is already the definitive work on the topic. Written in a narrative style accessible to students, scholars, and general readers.