ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of the state in the deradicalization process. It describes a history of extremism and deradicalization in Egypt in the form of actions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Islamic Group (IG) and al-Jihad. Egypt is credited for creating the largest, most organized and most enduring Islamic movement in the Arab World, namely, the MB. The origins of Jihadism can be traced back to Egypt in the 1960s and 1970s. Young Muslims became disillusioned with the MB and its inability to stand up to the repressive Egyptian regime. The initial response of the Mubarak regime to the insurgency of the 1990s was a harsh crackdown on Islamic militants and their sympathizers. Deradicalization does not stop at the prison gates. Thousands of former Jihadists have been released from Egyptian jails as a result of the deradicalization process. The deradicalization of the IG and al-Jihad has, so far, been one of the most successful processes of its kind.
