Shifting Tides in Egypt

The recent uprisings charging through the Middle East have, as previously mentioned, surpassed any of my wildest expectations.  Without discussing the moral value of shifting away from authoritarian rule, or even delving into the history of Mubarak’s regime, the events are striking in the way they’ve unfolded and the potential for change they possess.  However, if you’re as interested in all of this as I am, I’m sure there’s little I could say about the unfolding events that hasn’t been written by hundreds of others already.  So rather than pretend to be some kind of investigative reporter, I thought I’d discuss one of the most recent aspects of the events to take me by surprise.

Regularly these last few days writers and newscasters have expressed a measure of outrage over the US administration’s relatively tepid response to the situation in Egypt.  Indeed if one assumes the nation to be a shining beacon of democracy and freedom, our continued semi-support of an authoritarian regime might come as a surprise, but our support of the regime is absolutely nothing new.  Whether in the spheres of diplomacy, economics or security Egypt’s non-representative government has long been a supported ally of the United States.  So what surprises me as events unfold is actually how much the US has finally seemed to change its tune regarding Mubarak’s regime.

It’s relatively rare that our politics in the Middle East contrast so sharply with those of Israel, but this is definitely one of those situations.  Though Israel’s government has been rather tame in its commentary about the uprisings, media largely has not been and the state’s support is rather obviously behind Egypt’s current administration.  On the other hand, as the protests in Egypt continue to dominate the 24 hour news networks and the US continues its “democracy building” programs throughout the region, the US administration doesn’t seem to have much choice but to stand by its desires for representative rule.

US support of Egypt’s regime has long been an issue of contention in our promotion of democracy throughout the Middle East.  The current protests serve to a degree to put our previous interactions with the government under a microscope, and to spotlight the uncomfortable question of whether or not we support democracy or only political advantage.  At the same time, I do think there’s some validity to the concern over the US effectively pitching an ally under the bus.

As mentioned in my last post on the subject, I am of the mind that the best thing our government can do in this situation is largely to stay out of it.  Few things could be better for the populace of Egypt than a transition to democratic governance not created by the interference of other nations.  The current stance of the administration in voicing support of a peaceful transition of power seems like the right course of action in my book.  Egypt seems well on its way to some sort of change without the US or any other nation stepping in to force the government’s hand.