Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts The Muslim Brotherhood in the USA: Social Service or Taqiyya?

The Muslim Brotherhood in the USA: Social Service or Taqiyya?

  • May 19, 2011
Private: Lorenzo Vidino

Visiting Fellow, RAND Corporation


In his new book, The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West, Lorenzo Vidino examines a network of multifunctional and richly funded organizations in Europe and North America that trace their origins back to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements. Are these organizations positive forces encouraging integration or modern-day Trojan horses, feigning moderation while radicalizing Western Muslims. In this lecture, drawing on more than a decade of research on political Islam in the West Vidino focuses on the Western Brothers in the United States, sharing insights and evidence about their history, methods, attitudes, and goals. He then flips the perspective, examining the response to these groups by U.S. government agencies.

Lorenzo Vidino, Ph.D., is an academic and security expert who specializes in Islamism and political violence in Europe and North America. Currently a visiting fellow at the RAND Corporation in Washington DC, he previously held fellowships at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has taught at Tufts University, the University of Maryland and the National Defense University. He is the author of two books and frequent articles in several prominent newspapers and academic journals. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and consults with governments, law firms, think tanks and media in several countries. A native of Milan, Italy, he holds a law degree from the University of Milan Law School and a doctorate in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

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