Structured Response

Gamal Abdel Nasser was extremely effective in "silencing opposition" among the educated youth in Egypt while in power.  He was able to do so through repression, redistribution, and resocialization of this demographic.  The first of these steps was achieved through state control over all mosques, schools, media, and universities.  Government control over these public institutions limited contact between opposition groups and the mass Egyptian public, making anti-regime mobilization difficult.  The latter two steps go hand-in-hand.  Under the Nasser regime, funding was disproportionally distributed to the urban youth, primarily by providing a free university education to any qualifying student.  This redistribution of government wealth under resulted in the resocialization of young, educated Egyptians; there was no need to revolt against an autocratic regime if the people most likely to protest were satisfied with their government.

The recent Islamist success at the polls in the MENA region is not explained as simply.  On one hand, there is widespread hatred about any secular movement, since secular governments in the past were autocratic and repressed the common person.  Also, most people in the MENA region identify as Muslim.  In a time of great upheaval (the Arab Spring) people want stability, and Islam serves as a common characteristic that can provide continuity among the citizenry.  Finally, in many of the countries where the Arab Spring resulted in democratization, the most prominent candidates were either of the old regime or of Islamist background.  Especially in the case of Egypt, many voted for Morsi because the other main candidate was Ahmed Shafik, the Prime Minister under Hosni Mubarak.  The goal of the protests in Tahrir Square was to oust the Mubarak regime, so why would people vote for his right hand man?  If the people wanted to bring change, it required new leadership, and the only qualified candidates were Islamists.