The Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East has always attracted widely divergent attention. Scholars have regarded it both as the source of terrorism, and, more recently as the potential harbinger of democratization. The Muslim Brotherhood in Europe has attracted far less attention. But heavily influenced by its ambiguous reputation in the Middle East it has led to widespread speculation about its character. Its critics regard the European organizations as part of a suspicious, secretive, centrally led world-wide organization that enhances the alienation of Muslims in Europe. Its sympathizers, on the other hand, regard the Brotherhood as a moderate movement that has been Europeanized and promotes integration. This volume brings together experts on the European Muslim Brotherhood who address some of the main issues on which the debate has concentrated. After an introduction dealing with the European debate in the press, the first section shows that Brotherhood consists primarily of a network of informal ties, which have developed a host of localized practices and contradictory trends. The second part deals with the Brotherhood organizations in different European countries and traces their highly specific trajectories and relations with the local non-Muslim press and authorities. The third section concentrates on the ideological developments of the movement in the Middle East and Europe.

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael' The Netherlands Institute of International Affairs 'Clingendael' celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2008. This is not only a reason to look in retrospect, but also to look into the future. In this book, research fellows from the Institute shed some light on the near future regarding their research topics. Various themes in the field of Diplomacy, European integration, Security, and Energy are dealt with. In the tradition of the Clingendael Institute, being a policy-relevant think-tank, the different contributions to this book are not hypothetical foresights written from an ivory tower, but thought-provoking, policy-oriented chapters that will be relevant to anyone interested in international relations. Prof. Dr Jaap de Zwaan is Director of the Clingendael Institute, Dr Edwin Bakker is Head of the Clingendael Security and Conflict Programme, Sico van der Meer MA is a Research Fellow in the Clingendael Security and Conflict Programme.