Rajeev Agarwal replies: I don't think the US supports the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In fact, as per some analysts, the US, along with other major stakeholders in the region like Saudi Arabia, could be behind the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The US did support the people’s revolution in Egypt in January 2011, but at that time Muslim Brotherhood was not a recognised or overt political entity. It was much later after the installation of the interim government under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt that Muslim Brotherhood formed the Freedom and Justice Party. They later won the parliamentary and the presidential elections in Egypt.

However, contrary to the US expectations, President Morsi attempted to chart out an independent course for Egypt without being wholly dependent on the US. It attempted to forge better ties with Iran, supported the cause of Hamas in Gaza Strip and even put peace treaty with Israel on the edge.

The Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, was expanding its influence elsewhere in the region too, which couldn't have been to the liking of the US. In short, Muslim Brotherhood’s growing influence could have been one of the major contributory factors to its ouster in Egypt. Thus, the US cannot be seen to be supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Gulshan Dietl replies: The present situation in Egypt does look like a reversal of the process that began on December 18, 2011. Muhammad Morsi, the democratically-elected president, is overthrown and is being held in an undisclosed location with serious charges levelled against him; his supporters, mainly the Muslim Brotherhood, have come under severe crackdown; more than 2,000 of them have been arrested; the Muslim Brotherhood itself is facing dissolution as a registered non-governmental organisation; some prominent journalists, lawyers and trade unionists are detained; Christians are under threat and some of their churches and monasteries are ransacked and looted. To top it all, Hosni Mubarak, the target of the Arab Spring in Egypt, is released from the prison and is now under house arrest – a highly symbolic move indicating a reversal to the pre-Spring order.

The return of the military rule in Egypt, however, needs to be looked at in a broader perspective. None of the post-Spring states have so far achieved what the Spring set out to do. Egypt is firmly under the military rule, the government in Tunisia is facing popular protests on a daily basis, there is no real government in Libya, and Yemen is slowly turning into a haven for fugitives. The states that did not see a regime change are also in ferment: Syria in a state of civil war, ruthless persecution of the protesters in Bahrain, as also various forms of demonstrations, marches, sit-ins, rallies, strikes, etc., in mild to severe forms in most of the Arab states.

The revolutions are messy and unpredictable. As long as the cauldron of discontent is simmering, and the regimes are responding either by suppressing it or by accommodating it, the Arab Spring will go on. The methods may not be similar and the outcomes may not be uniform in different states. And it may be a very long process as well.

Gulshan Dietl replies: The Brotherhood is primarily political seeking to confront the imperialist West as also the godless regimes in West Asia. The Saudis, on the other hand, follow Wahhabism, which is primarily religious seeking to purify Islam and restore it to its original glory. At the peak of pan-Arab ideology across the Arab world, Saudi Arabia had provided asylum to the members of the Muslim Brotherhood who sought refuge from Nasser’s Egypt or Hafez al-Assad’s Syria. Since then, the Saudis and the Muslim Brotherhood have been on divergent paths. Beyond the ideological differences, there are serious political considerations. The onset of “Arab Spring” has seen the ascendance of Muslim Brotherhood in post-Spring states. Egypt has always been an influential regional power in West Asia. The Muslim Brotherhood there could be an inspiration for pro-democracy movements and consequently a threat to stability in the Kingdom. The former Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Nayef was reported to have said, “The Muslim Brotherhood is the cause of most of the Arab World’s problems and has done vast amounts of damage in Saudi Arabia.” Unsurprisingly, therefore, the Saudis have generously supported the interim regime in Egypt.

The Saudi-Qatari rivalries run deep in spite of the fact that both follow Wahhabism, are rich in energy resources, are ruled by monarchies and have strategic ties with the US. Qatar has a small population and an enormous wealth. In the circumstances, the “Arab Spring” did not manifest itself in Qatar. In fact, it provided the country an opportunity to project its role in the region and beyond. The new ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim al-Thani, is expected to bring about reconciliation between the two royal dynasties.