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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism and the Future of North Africa |
Author: | Serpa, Eduardo |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | Africa Insight |
Volume: | 22 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 186-198 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Northern Africa Northeast Africa |
Subjects: | Islamic movements Politics and Government Religion and Witchcraft Law, Human Rights and Violence |
Abstract: | This study provides an analysis of the political impact of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism throughout North Africa from Suez to the Atlantic. It discusses the present situation and evolutionary prospects of fundamentalism in these countries and attempts to forecast possible developments at the regional level, and their broader political and geostrategic implications. Particular attention is given to Algeria and Egypt; the other countries mentioned are Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan and Libya. The conclusion is that the spread of fundamentalism in North Africa constitutes an event of the utmost political and strategic importance. Two different scenarios are possible if a fundamentalist bloc takes shape in North Africa: it might either be restricted to the Maghreb and Sudan; or it might cover the whole of North Africa, including Egypt. It seems out of the question that the second of these scenarios will come to anything in the near future. Egypt's large fundamentalist minority does not seem to pose, for the time being, a real threat to the country's stability. Egypt will remain stronger than all the Maghrebian countries put together. This balance of forces might be changed by Iran's attempt to build a fundamentalist stronghold in Sudan. Notes, ref. |