Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Finds Favor Again

More than four years after Egypt’s Muslim Brothers were ousted from power in a military coup and declared a terrorist organization, their chief nemesis, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, is reshuffling key players in his cabinet in ways that could ultimately benefit the Muslim Brotherhood.

Unlike former president Hosni Mubarak, whose rule relied on multiple pillars of institutional loyalty, including the judiciary, the military, the police, and some businessmen, as well as the government-backed National Democratic Party, El-Sisi is almost entirely dependent upon the trusted support he receives from the military. With no meaningful political parties capable of operating freely in Egypt and a stunted private sector, the military’s involvement in civilian, economic, and political affairs has reached unprecedented levels.