Islamic radical fundamentalist political movements have a long history in Egypt, where they have posed as the most important alternative vision and ideology to the dominant, state-sponsored Arab nationalism. These groups have challenged the Egyptian state but failed to take over either the regime or the society. These defeats have arisen from the success of governmental policies, including repression and cooptation; internal ideological and organizational divisions among the fundamentalists themselves; and the Egyptian people's rejection of their radical message and interpretation of Islam. One of the most important ideological debates has been whether the primary target of fundamentalist action should be the Egyptian regime or an anti-Western campaign.

This book examines the different Egyptian fundamentalist groups, with particular emphasis on how ideological differences have lead to distinctive attitudes towards violence and terrorism. This book has been updated to analyze how internal debates, coupled with the defeat of the anti-government insurgency, led many Egyptian radical fundamentalists to join Usama bin Ladin and focus on attacking America.

It includes excerpts and an analysis of the writings of Ayman al-Zawahiri, a veteran leader of the Egyptian movement who became Usama bin Ladin's right-hand man and helped plan the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States