Egyptian-Syrian relations after 2011

Egypt and Syria have been important actors in the Middle East, a region of considerable geostrategic importance. This article analyses relations between the two countries after 2011 in the context of events related to the so-called Arab Spring. The first part of the study describes the common path Egypt and Syria took over the past millennia, which explains the significance of their mutual relations. In the section that follows, the author shows the destructive impact of processes related to the Arab Spring on relations between these countries, most notably the eruption of the Syrian conflict and the takeover of power in Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood. Next, the article describes the impact of the fall of Islamists in Egypt in 2013. Although since then relations between the two countries have ceased to be hostile, efforts to repair them remain slow. The author argues that the reasons for this delay could be attributed to the pressures exercised by external actors.

Until 2011, Salafimovement held itself aloof from politics. However, Arab Spring resulted in an opportunity to create their own political parties. Egyptian Salafists were the first to follow this path after the fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime. The emergence of these parties proved to be beneficial for the development of Arab democracy. By their convictions, the Salafists are extremely conservative and more radical than the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite its conservatism, the political force used peaceful means to fight for change, attracted a significant part of Arab society to participate in legal politics, and also added diversity to the spectrum of Islamist parties, preventing any one force from claiming that it represented the entire Muslim community. But soon the rise in popularity of jihadist organizations, which call to fight for the implementation of Islamist ideas not by legal political, but by violent methods, undermined the influence of Salafiparties. In addition, discrediting of the Salafimovement was largely influenced by Saudi policy, the main purpose of which was to counter the Muslim Brotherhood inside Egypt. As a result, most of the ultra-conservative forces became Wahhabi, which led to discord within the Egyptian Salafists. The one part of the movement, which continued to support the Brothers, suffered a political defeat with them after the 2013 military coup. The other part, which sided with the military elite, as a result of these actions completely lost support among the population. This article analyzes the process of the Salafimovement entering the political arena in Egypt, the dynamics of its relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and the ideological differences between them. The article also examines the influence of Saudi Arabia on Egyptian Salafism and explains the main differences between Salafism and Wahhabism in the context of this influence.

Under the pressure of social protests in 1989 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, King Hussein I announced free elections. There was a revival of the system of constitutional monarchy, with a theoretically strong position of the Chamber of Deputies. Then, in 1989-1999 there was a struggle between the opposition and the monarch, who strived to maintain all real power. After 1989 the opposition was represented mainly by Islamic fundamentalists from the Muslim Brotherhood. King Hussein I managed to win the political struggle by using the tribal character of the society. The monarch maintained complete control over political processes, and the ideological opposition, both Islamic and leftist, was marginalized. However, thanks to that, the monarchy recognized real opposition, the multi-party system, and the freedom of speech. Thus, on the one hand, Jordan after 1989 has become one of the most liberal Arab states, but on the other hand, the monarch controls the parliament and the government.