Something big just happened in Egypt right now. Something very big. (Pt 2)

[Catherina]

33. Mubarak with a beard? Excellent read of new dynamics between #USA and #Egypt

Petra Stienen ?@petra_stienen

Mubarak with a beard? Excellent read of new dynamics between #USA and #Egypt http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/04/mubarak_with_a_beard?page=full …

Mubarak with a Beard?
The United States needs to tell Egypt's new president that there's no going back to the old, bad ways.
BY MICHAEL WAHID HANNA | DECEMBER 4, 2012


...

In a move that bears the hallmark of U.S. policy in the Mubarak era, the United States has largely reduced its relationship with Egypt to the maintenance of the peace treaty with Israel and withheld serious judgment of the Muslim Brotherhood-led government, even as it actively undermines the country's already troubled democratic transition.

...

The crisis deepened when the president directed the assembly to ram through a governing document in a chaotic, all-night session that made a mockery of deliberative constitutional process and design. If approved in a hastily called referendum, that slipshod document will bound Egypt's political future and institutionalize its crisis. With a significant portion of the country's judges declaring a strike in response to Morsy's declaration and dueling protesters mobilizing on opposing sides, Egypt's flawed transition now risks tipping into outright civil strife and prolonged instability.

...

Morsy's actions presented the United States with a difficult choice: Should it challenge an elected Egyptian president just as the two countries have begun to reconstruct bilateral ties? This choice was complicated further by the close cooperation and pragmatism displayed by Morsy and his government in securing a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip last month. These efforts won the Egyptian president newfound confidence in Washington, and administration officials were quick to shower him with praise.

...

Morsy's moves were particularly damaging to the United States since he made his initial announcement the day after meeting with Clinton to finalize details of the Gaza ceasefire. The timing raised the unfounded specter among already suspicious Egyptians that the Brotherhood had cleared their undemocratic power play with the now-grateful Americans.

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Read more: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/12/04/mubarak_with_a_beard?page=full