Turmoil in the Middle East, Confusion in the White House

Helle Dale / February 02, 2011

There was a time when the U.S. government boldly supported democratic movements and spoke out unabashedly in favor of political and human rights. It wasn’t even that long ago—under the Bush and Reagan Administrations, actually—but it seems like eons. Consider President Obama’s comment in the State of the Union speech that the United States “stands with the people of Tunisia” (whatever this code means) while ignoring that at that very moment tens of thousands of demonstrators had taken to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, protesting the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak.

It is true that the U.S. has a lot at stake in Egypt, an important ally and a keystone of regional stability. And the Egyptian opposition movement certainly has the potential to be hijacked by radical Islamists if it comes to power, more so than the predominantly secular opposition in Tunisia. Yet a moderate democratic political center is desperately what the country needs, and the Obama Administration has done nothing to encourage its emergence up to this point (unlike the Bush Administration, which kept Mubarak at arms length). Similarly, the Obama Administration squandered the opportunity to clearly pledge support to the opposition green movement in Iran in 2009, which would have yielded more potential benefits and entailed far fewer risks than supporting Egypt’s opposition. (more…)