Democrats or Autocrats? - Islamists in North African Politics

University of Chicago Professor Malika Zeghal and Oxford Professor Michael Willis made their comments on November 18 to members of CSIS's Maghreb Roundtable, a new initiative at CSIS to draw attention to trends and events in North Africa that are of strategic interest to the United States. Their discussion helped inform an ongoing debate between those who argue that including Islamist politicians in Arab politics will nurture democratic transitions and those who argue that excluding Islamists protects those transitions from being hijacked by essentially authoritarian groups.