Egypt, unlike Saudi Arabia, has a polarized Islamic society.
The mainstream urban society has benefited from a liberalized
economy and free entry of Western cultural traits. President
Mubarak supports the growing population of young citizens
and the need to give more rights to women. The more tra-
ditional Muslim Brotherhood occupies the other end of the
spectrum—it continues to attempt to Islamize Egypt through
the application of stricter Islamic Sharia codes of law. Only
time will tell if the two forces will indeed come together, or
whether political extremism will prevail.