The shift in Congressional Medal of Honor emphasis may reflect a national ambiguity about our wars.
Revisiting the Neutered Medal of Honor Argument
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Middle East & North Africa
You Can’t Tell Egypt’s Players Without a Scorecard
Egypt is as rife with rival factions as Iran.
Interview with Juan Cole
Juan Cole is a professor history at the University of Michigan and the author of Engaging the Muslim World. His blog, Informed Comment, is a go-to resource for analysis of U.S. and Middle Eastern policy. Here he talks with FPIF’s John Feffer about Egypt, Islamofascism, and “America anxiety” in the Muslim world.
Two Outside-the-Box Questions About Egypt
TV news fails to take advantage of citizen journalism; plan to replace Mubarak with Suleiman ominous.
The Fake Moderation of America’s Moderate Mideast Allies
As the Mubarak regime turns to violence in a vain attempt to repress the peaceful protests that have swept Egypt’s streets for over ten days, the risks associated with current U.S. strategy for Egypt and the wider region continue to grow. In its response to the events, the Obama administration has subtly shifted its message, incrementally increasing pressure on the regime over the last week. But the more important story is the remarkable continuities reflected in the administration’s approach.
Whither the Party Line on Egypt?
Revolutions of world-historic potential, such as we are presently witnessing in Egypt, only happen once in a generation. There is enough awkwardness among the Washington establishment—bewildered at the sight of an uprising against a client state—that they are completely helpless to do much of anything in the face of the tumult on the Egyptian street. But no one is confronting a more awkward comeuppance, and responding to it more erratically, than the neoconservatives.
Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood Trumps Western Wishes for Democracy in Egypt
Neither should we underestimate Israel’s support for Mubarak as a motive for protesting Egyptians.
Egypt: Back Against the Wall, a Tyrant Embraces Anarchy
When tyranny is threatened by internal turmoil and uproar, it sometimes stoke the forces of anarchy.
Regime Change Redux
The lesson of Tunis, Sanaa, and Cairo is that democracy rhetoric is more than a strategy for the assertion of American dominance. On the contrary, it is a language that fuses moral and political power into a radical claim that every human being deserves a voice in the decisions that affect their daily lives. The United States tried to promote democracy through the barrel of a gun. It’s time now for Washington to support democracy in the Middle East by pressing its authoritarian allies to put their guns away.
Why Washington Clings to a Failed Middle-East Strategy
We face the distinct possibility that the U.S. national security bureaucracy will continue to deny the disastrous consequences of our client-regime national-security strategy.