Shadi Hamid

Shadi Hamid is director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. In 2008–2009, he was a Hewlett Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. He has published widely on democracy promotion and Middle Eastern politics.

January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1

Arab Islamist Parties: Losing on Purpose?

In most Arab countries, Islamist groups are the only ones with the popular support needed to win free and fair elections. Yet Islamist parties have shown an ambivalence about and in some cases even an aversion to seeking power via the ballot box.