State Dept. Working to Unblock Egypt Aid

Photo Credit: Foreign Press Centers

The State Department has announced that is continuing to work with Congress to remove a block  on $450 million of aid to Egypt. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, “We are continuing our regular consultations. We had a number of folks from this building, including [Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions William Taylor] up talking to Hill staff about the request, [and] about how it fits into our overall strategy of supporting the democratic transition in Egypt.” She added, “We feel very strongly that now is not the time to pull back from supporting these fragile democracies in North Africa and the Middle East. It’s time to support those who are trying to take their countries in a democratic direction.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Friedman writes, “The worst message we can send right now to Middle Easterners is that their future is all bound up in what we do. It is not. The Arab-Muslim world has rarely been more complicated and more in need of radical new approaches by us — and them.”  He suggests the U.S. “start by making clear that the new Arab governments are free to choose any path they desire,” but U.S. support is predicated on a country’s action to “1) educate [its] people up to the most modern standards; 2) empower [its] women; 3) embrace religious pluralism; 4) have multiple parties, regular elections and a free press; 5) maintain [its] treaty commitments; and 6) control violent extremists with security forces governed by the rule of law.”

Finally, Daniel Levy offers a critique of Mitt Romney’s recent foreign policy speech, saying “the speech did tell us quite a bit about the tensions inherent in doing Republican foreign policy in the post-Bush era.” Among other arguments, Levy suggests Romney’s promise to “deepen our critical cooperation with our partners in the Gulf”  will be difficult to reconcile with his desire to support ”the dignity that comes with freedom, and opportunity, and the right to live under laws of our own making.” He also labels Romney’s articulated policy as “Weaponized Keynesianism.”