Shadi Hamid compares Islamism in Egypt and Tunisia

 Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Institute, talks about the meteoric rise of the ruling Islamist Ennahdha party that came to power following the ouster of veteran strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. He also discusses the challenges facing Ennahdha two years after the revolution and the tensions within the ruling party. The socio-political landscape of Tunisia, which in many ways stands alone in the Arab world, is analyzed by Brookings researcher. (Feb 8, 2013)

Shadi Hamid takes a comparative approach in dissecting Islamism in both Egypt and Tunisia. Hamid points out a major difference in the two countries’ political experiences with Islamism present in Egyptian society for a much longer period of time than in Tunisia. (Feb 8, 2013)