The U.S. is trying to maintain the status quo in Egypt
some background...
A Familiar Story
Resort to the language of order, stability, incrementalism, and moderation is hardly new and existed well before the events of last week. Not only is it consistent with the basic stance that the Obama administration has taken toward the Middle East from the very outset, but it reflects the long trajectory of American practices in the region, which have depended on shoring up Arab authoritarians who are willing to serve in an American "axis of moderation." The members of this axis -- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan -- have displayed little in common other than a commitment to sustaining current U.S. foreign policy priorities - on Israel/Palestine, the containment of Iran, and access to oil. What they pointedly do not share is any tangible commitment to actual moderation - understood as an internal project of democratization or political openness. This latter fact has been powerfully exposed by the nonviolent demonstrations across the region, and, as in the case of Egypt, the increasingly brutal response such protest has elicited from "moderate" allies.
At the heart of American support for such autocrats is a false opposition between chaos and order, with many in Washington arguing that the only way to avoid pervasive regional violence is to maintain the status quo.
i posted earlier that i think the white house proposed "succession plan" is pure and utter bullshit... the egyptian people are giving us an unprecedented example of solidarity and empowerment that simply must be honored and keeping a foot against their collective throats is NOT the way to do it...
Labels: Dictatorship, egypt, Hosni Mubarak, incrementalism, Omar Suleiman, succession, U.S. foreign policy, White House
Submit To PropellerTweet
posted by profmarcus at
2/04/2011
