The Muslim Brotherhood and the West

Summary

The Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s oldest and most influential Islamist organization, has been the source of endless debate among policymakers and experts in the West. Positions swing from those who seek to designate it as a terrorist organization to those who argue that the group embraces democracy and non-violence. By the same token, opinions are equally divided on the nature of offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West.

In order to discuss these matters, the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University hosted an online event on July 16th, 2020, featuring:

• Sir John Jenkins, former British ambassador who led the 2014 UK government Policy Review on the Muslim Brotherhood and is currently a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange
• Ahmed Akkari, former member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Denmark who played a key role in the 2006 Danish cartoons controversy and who has since left the organization
• Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism and author of the recently released book The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West