Why Islamism is winning

Rather than bringing secular revolutionaries to power, the Arab Spring is producing flowers of a decidedly Islamist hue. More unsettling to many, Islamists are winning fairly: religious parties are placing first in free, open elections in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. So why are so many Arabs voting for parties that seem politically regressive to Westerners? The West’s own history furnishes an answer. From 1820 to 1850, Europe resembled today’s Arab world in two ways.

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