The paper is devoted to the analysis of the historical background, the conditions of the formation and spread of the Salafi movement in Egypt. R. Meyer, E. Mirishli, M. Razbadinov, and other historians and political scientists conducted the investigation of Salafi movement and its various assessments. The purpose of given paper is to present the role of Salafi movement in the modern political life of Egypt, to substantiate the role of supporters of the movement in resolving the conflict situation in the country.

We made the conclusion that Salafism is not a uniform phenomenon. In Egypt, part of representative of this movement supported the events of the “Arab Spring”, part was the supporters of the military take-over.

After a decade of war, the United States has failed to eradicate the threat of salafist jihadism. No matter how hard it tries, the United States cannot kill its way to victory in the war on terrorism. Sweeping changes across the Middle East—dubbed the “Arab Spring” by the media—have presented the West with a unique opportunity to pursue an alternative approach. Rather than engaging in war (politics through violence), the United States should engage in mass politics (war without violence) to compel the Arab world to reject the salafist jihadism idea. This article proposes a strategy calibrated to defeat international terrorism without unnecessarily antagonizing non-jihadist salafists and political salafists who enjoy broad-based support in the Arab world. The article goes on to identify key political figures already espousing elements of this counternarrative, and it describes the methods the United States should use to empower these and other anti–salafist jihadism activists.