Ezgi Basaran is a journalist and academic, currently based at St.Anthony’s College, University of Oxford, UK as a Research Associate. She previously reported from conflict zones in Iraq, Iran, and Israel and was the youngest ever editor of Radikal, which prior to its closure was the biggest centre-left news outlet in Turkey. Her first book in English, Frontline Turkey, was published by I.B. Tauris in 2017. She writes for major publications, including the BBC, the Financial Times, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
By Examining the interplay among the Turkish AKP, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, and Tunisian al-Nahda in the wake of the Arab uprisings, Ezgi Basaran offers an innovative perspective to examine the evolution of Islamism in the current times. The book is particularly instructive in showing what happens when the oppositional Islamic movements transition into governing bodies. A very valuable contribution to our understanding of political Islam today. * Asef Bayat, Professor, University of Illinois, USA * In this meticulously researched examination of the interplay between Islamist political parties, Ezgi Basaran offers invigorating insights into how the transnational diffusion of influence is more tactical than ideological. She robustly challenges reductionist assumptions that simply equate Islamism with Islamisation of state and society, and exceptionalist assumptions that underplay the conventional political calculus even Islamists must make. This work’s impressive detail and analytical sharpness compel us to recognise the pragmatic interests at work in Islamists’ interactions with each other and to see the pursuit of power and success as the normal stuff of Islamist political agendas. * James Piscatori, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University, Australia *