The unique position of the Muslim Brotherhood, as an illegal but tolerated organization as well as a quasi-party, is a powerful factor affecting relations between researcher and target actors. These relations are caught in an unstable balance between techniques of inclusion and exclusion. In addition to the effects of the international context, the Muslim Brotherhood?s specific situation of overt clandestinity requires the fluctuating management of secrecy and requires continuous bargaining over the relationship. The challenge is to build up rather than win the researcher?s status through the interaction and to simultaneously redefine the object of the investigation.