5 - International Relations and Survival in Exile

Summary

This chapter chronicles the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood’s international relations to understand the way that the group operated outside Syria. Exploring the group’s relations with foreign countries, as well as other Brotherhood wings, it paints a picture of a truly international organisation. Indeed, exile forced the group to disperse across the world, ensuring that by 2011 it was worldlier than most other Syrian opposition groups. This characteristic and track record proved a considerable advantage early in the 2011 uprising as the Brotherhood could leverage its international connections for finance, materiel, diplomatic support and manpower in a way that other Syrian groups could not do.