Confusion and Instability in Egypt
July 23, 2012 by Sudhanshu Tripathi
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta with Egyptian Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi in Cairo
American attempts to push for a Western style democracy in Egypt may not yield the desired results. American foreign policy in the region is viewed with suspicion because of its past support for former President Hosni Mubarak and his regime and its overhanded support for Israel. The prevailing confusion concerning the beginnings of democracy in Egypt, despite electing Mohammed Morsi in the country’s largely fair and free elections has baffled policymakers.
The on-going instability is a result of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) headed by Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, not transferring power to the newly elected president. The US is very keen on balancing a public push for a democratic Egypt against a desire to maintain long-term ties with dominant factions like Egypt’s military.
Earlier the pro-SCAF Egyptian Election Commission delayed the announcement of the results prompting the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta t0 warn his Egyptian counterparts in two separate phone calls not to alter the election results in favour of the military’s candidate and Mubarak’s last prime minister, Gen. Ahmad Shafiq, thereby disrupting the democratic process and the will of the Egyptian electorate and the democratic spirit unleashed by the Arab Spring.
The West is Playing with Fire in Syria
July 23, 2012 by Naili Nabil
Protest against Assad in Idlib, Syria. Image via Freedom House
“Let’s be clear: Washington is pursuing regime change by civil war in Syria. The United States, Europe, and the Gulf states want regime change, so they are starving the regime in Damascus and feeding the opposition.”
– Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies.
While the UN remains paralyzed on whether to extend its observer mission, or impose sanctions, Syria is drifting quickly towards what the International Committee of the Red Cross calls “a state of civil war”, a declaration, with cataclysmic consequences, and which might radically change the rules of the game.
Editor’s Pick
Comments