ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three manifestations of Islamist transnationalism in the Middle East to consider the empirical and theoretical implications for Global Governance: The Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hizbullah. It also examines the theoretical and empirical implications of Islamist transnationalism for Global Governance, paying particular attention to the paradoxical nature of Islamism: on one hand, the rhetoric, ideology, and 'social movement' aspects of political Islam appear supranational in many ways. Founded by Egyptian activist Hassan al-Banna in 1928, the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was a watershed moment for political Islam as the ideology and philosophy of Islamism was translated into a grassroots organization. The political ideology of Hamas thus affords an interesting compatibility between Palestinian nationalism and commitment to the idea of a universal umma. Several important patterns can be observed from this examination of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in the Palestinian Territories, and Hizbullah in Lebanon.
