Publication

This paper examines the experience of US democracy promoters working with Islamist parties in Morocco, Jordan and Yemen. The paper summarizes the state of the Islamist movement in the Middle East and US attempts to engage them and identifies successful engagement strategies. Subsequently, the paper sheds light on domestic development, relevant Islamist forces and the degree of internal democracy and transparency for every of the three countries. The paper stresses the importance of moderate Islamist parties to counterbalance the influence of extremist, violent Islamist groupings.