January 25th, 2011 by Naureen

Writing at The Atlantic, Shadi Hamid states that as the Arab world takes note of the events in Tunisia and forms their own protests, the United States “is finding itself torn between the reliable allies it needs and the democratic reformers it wants.” This is especially the case in Egypt, where the U.S. is the “primary benefactor” of the regime and a Tunisian-style revolt would likely lead to the country being lost to “some of the most anti-American opposition groups in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood.” Our own policies have left us in this dilemma: “Unable to resolve [the] ‘Islamist dilemma,’ attempts to promote Arab democracy - including the Bush ‘freedom agenda’ - were either diluted or postponed indefinitely.” Support for the autocratic regimes have, in turn, led to widespread anti-Americanism.

He calls on the U.S. to “re-assess its Middle East policy and, then, re-orient it to ride with, rather than against, the tide of Arab popular rule.” In the case of Egypt, he recommends that the government “begin distancing itself from Mubarak by stepping up public criticism of regime repression and deepening contacts with the full range of Egyptian opposition” or create a “reform endowment” offering substantial financial incentives for Arab regimes to meet benchmarks on political reform.

Posted in Egypt, Protests, Reform, US foreign policy |