Publication

This paper discusses the political debate emerging in the Maghreb over the involvement of Islamists in politics. According to some analysts, the fact that these parties and movements are nearer to the common people than the traditional parties may be a key element in the governments' controlling the groups' most radical elements. All of the groups condemn the 'un-Islamic' policies towards what they see as the decadent Westernization pursued by the regimes. The author analyzes the specific situations in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. He argues that in some countries, radical Islamism has been facilitated by official policy, which in recent decades has tolerated the spread of an intolerant version of Islam.