The United States and Political Islam: A New Strategy to Pursue the Muslim Brotherhood

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Washington is seeking to develop new tools to confront political Islam amid growing concerns over the ability of certain groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, to expand and consolidate their influence.

In this context, writer Lorenzo Vidino argued in an article published by The Wall Street Journal that President Donald Trump’s administration has demonstrated a strong commitment to confronting political Islam.

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According to the author, this commitment represents a clear departure from previous administrations, which neglected what he describes as a threat by adopting a fragmented and overly simplistic approach.

Vidino points out that, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, resources have been largely devoted to pursuing organizations designated as terrorist groups, such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda. By contrast, political Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood “were not overseen by any specific authority and were largely ignored,” resulting in the absence of a dedicated government body responsible for monitoring their activities.

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The author argues that addressing political Islam solely through the lens of counterterrorism fails to capture the true nature of the challenge, emphasizing that the phenomenon is far more complex.

In this regard, he notes that political Islamist movements, foremost among them the Muslim Brotherhood, operate across multiple spheres, including politics, education, and community activism, both in the Middle East and within Western societies.

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A European initiative

Vidino adds that several European countries recognized these dimensions before the United States, with various governments conducting reviews and studies on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and its social impact.

He points out that, in 2014, the United Kingdom launched a governmental review of the Brotherhood‘s activities at the request of then-Prime Minister David Cameron, involving security agencies as well as institutions responsible for education, integration, and communications.

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France adopted a similar approach in a report published last year, concluding that the threat posed by political Islam, even when not directly linked to violence, could represent a long-term danger to the structure of society and republican institutions.

Likewise, Germany’s security services have stated in their annual reports that political Islamist movements constitute a threat to social cohesion and to efforts aimed at integrating immigrants.

Although these European countries have not yet designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, they are fully aware, according to the author, of the scale of the threats posed by the movement and its allies.

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An unprecedented shift, but not enough

Vidino also notes that the Trump administration took a new step this year by designating four branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Sudan as terrorist organizations after concluding that they had been involved in acts of direct violence.

In the author’s view, this decision marks an unprecedented shift in Western policy, but it will not be sufficient on its own to eradicate political Islam. He argues that an effective response requires a broader transformation in the way these movements and their methods of operation are understood.

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He further stresses the need to address what he describes as a lack of expertise within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other U.S. government agencies regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam in general.

Vidino maintains that closing this knowledge gap is a fundamental step in confronting political Islam and calls for expanding the scope of this issue to include multiple institutions at both the national and local levels.

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According to the author, this would involve:

• redirecting local FBI offices to include political Islam among their priorities;
• reviewing the role of educational bodies that provide support to Islamic schools, from kindergarten through twelfth grade;
• increasing scrutiny of immigration procedures related to visa applications submitted by certain imams;
• reassessing the acceptance of foreign donations by American universities and their hosting of researchers and events with Islamic orientations.

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