Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Why Did They Fail?
Analysis
BBC
4.6 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 September 2013
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Barely a year after Egypt's post-revolution elections were held, millions of protestors took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi. After a short stand-off with army leaders, he was removed from power in what many describe as a coup d'etat.
The subsequent clashes between Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters and security forces have proved violent and bloody and the country is once again being governed by the military - but what were the events which closed this short chapter in the fledgling Egyptian democracy?
Christopher de Bellaigue speaks to insiders from across Egypt's political spectrum to reveal the mistakes and power-plays which led to the downfall of the country's first democratically elected president.
Contributors:
Dr Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, former Freedom and Justice Party MP for Luxor.
Dr Hisham Hellyer, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (London) and the Brookings Institution (Washington).
Dr Omar Ashour, senior lecturer in Middle East Politics and Security Studies, University of Exeter.
Angy Ghannam, Head of BBC Monitoring, Cairo.
Dr Wael Haddara, former communications adviser to President Mohammed Morsi.
Dr Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, founder of the Strong Egypt party.
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith Editor: Innes Bowen
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC |
| 0:35.4 | Sounds. |
| 0:36.4 | Thank you for downloading BBC Radio 4's analysis. |
| 0:39.9 | I'm Christopher de Belég and on this week's programme I'll be examining Mohammed Morsi's short-lived term as President of Egypt |
| 0:46.6 | asking what went wrong for the Muslim Brotherhood. The brutal soundtrack to Egypt's second upheaval of the Arab Spring in July. |
| 1:01.0 | President Mohamed Morsi overthrown in a military coup, his Muslim Brotherhood supporters |
| 1:06.2 | killed in their hundreds. Earlier this month, the same Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that |
| 1:12.1 | Egyptians had elected in 2012, was effectively |
| 1:15.7 | outlawed. |
| 1:17.3 | Where did Egypt's experiment with democracy go so badly wrong? |
| 1:22.4 | To many casual observers in the West, Morsi was a power-hungry ideologue |
| 1:26.8 | who couldn't be trusted with high office. His Islamizing agenda was turning Egypt into |
| 1:31.6 | another Iran. |
| 1:33.0 | I'm Christopher de Belaig and in this week's analysis I'll offer a different reading of events. |
| 1:39.0 | Speaking to Egyptians who are themselves involved, in some cases enjoying close access to the president, I'll show |
| 1:45.2 | that the picture of a richly merited defenestration is incomplete. |
| 1:50.8 | This isn't to say Morsi was the perfect leader for his country. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.