ASSESSMENTS

Labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorists Invites Complications for the U.S.

May 7, 2019 | 05:15 GMT

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L), shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the start of a bilateral meeting in New York on Sept. 24, 2018. Washington might be shooting itself in the foot by recognizing the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Washington's consideration of the matter demonstrates the influence Brotherhood opponents including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel have — and will continue to have — on the current White House.
The designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a specially designated global terrorist group would harm the U.S. government's ability to work productively with governments that include parties that are Islamist or aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, such as strategic U.S. allies Turkey and Kuwait.
It will be impossible to categorize all Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups according to one blanket designation because each organization has varying ideological beliefs and attitudes toward violence.
The designation could even become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as some political Islamists could respond with violence at what many in the Muslim world would perceive as proof that America is an enemy of Islam.

One of the standard bearers of political Islam finds itself square in the White House's crosshairs. The Trump administration confirmed that it is weighing whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that is prominent in politics and society throughout the Sunni world, as a foreign terrorist organization. If the United States were to add the Brotherhood to its list, it would join Russia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in doing so. Such a move threatens to open a can of worms for the United States, however, not least because the group has so many incarnations -- in so many countries -- that it defies easy designation. More important, though, are the political difficulties Washington will create for itself in taking a firm stand against the Brotherhood: For while prominent foes of the group in Cairo, Riyadh and elsewhere will laud the move, the United States...

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