RSIS presents the following commentary The US Bogeyman in Post-coup Egypt by James M. Dorsey. It is also available online at this link. (To print it, click on this link.). Kindly forward any comments or feedback to the Editor RSIS Commentaries, at RSISPublication@ntu.edu.sg
No. 136/2013 dated 22 July 2013
The US Bogeyman in Post-coup Egypt
By James M. Dorsey
By James M. Dorsey
Synopsis
The military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi has presented the Obama administration with a dilemma. While the US saw its tacit backing for the Saudi-backed military intervention as a way of steering Egypt towards a more consensual transition to democracy, the military viewed its toppling of Morsi as an opportunity to deal a body blow to the Muslim Brotherhood. Consequently the US has become the bogeyman of both the revolutionary youth movement and the Brothers.
The military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi has presented the Obama administration with a dilemma. While the US saw its tacit backing for the Saudi-backed military intervention as a way of steering Egypt towards a more consensual transition to democracy, the military viewed its toppling of Morsi as an opportunity to deal a body blow to the Muslim Brotherhood. Consequently the US has become the bogeyman of both the revolutionary youth movement and the Brothers.
Commentary
THE
SAUDI-supported military overthrow of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi
on 3 July 2013 following massive demonstrations against him throughout
Cairo and Egypt presented the United States with a dilemma. The Obama
administration was hard-pressed to deflect the perception of US’ tacit
support for the coup while calling for an inclusive electoral process
that would enable the Muslim Brotherhood to contest again for
parliamentary and presidential seats which they had been elected to
before.
The
US refusal to call the ouster of Morsi a coup, combined with its
long-standing financial assistance to various pro-democracy groups, was
perceived as proof that the US backed efforts to create an illiberal
democracy in Egypt.
Between democracy and stability
Between democracy and stability
Such
an outcome would prevent the return to power of Islamists who would
challenge the military’s efforts to contain the wave of change sweeping
across the Middle East and North Africa. Such a nuanced US message is
hard to convey in a zero-sum environment where anti-Morsi forces see the
Morsi government as not inclusive while the Muslim Brotherhood view
Morsi’s overthrow as illegal.
The US reaction to the Egypt coup shows that its policy hinges on two ideas: democracy and stability, which constitutes the dilemma. As a result this perpetually causes it problems in the region. Moreover it has limited options because the Saudis are countering the efforts of any potential cut-off of US aid while what constitutes US power has changed. A small but significant sign of this change is that both the Brotherhood and the Tamarud (Rebel) youth movement that had petitioned Morsi’s resignation refused to meet the US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns when he visited Cairo last week; he could only meet the military leaders.
The US reaction to the Egypt coup shows that its policy hinges on two ideas: democracy and stability, which constitutes the dilemma. As a result this perpetually causes it problems in the region. Moreover it has limited options because the Saudis are countering the efforts of any potential cut-off of US aid while what constitutes US power has changed. A small but significant sign of this change is that both the Brotherhood and the Tamarud (Rebel) youth movement that had petitioned Morsi’s resignation refused to meet the US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns when he visited Cairo last week; he could only meet the military leaders.
The
US parted ways with Saudi Arabia on Egypt when the military coupled its
toppling of Morsi with a crackdown on the Brotherhood, with mass
arrests, legal proceedings, targeting of Brotherhood-affiliated
businesses and closure of Islamist media. The US tacitly agreed to the
removal of Morsi but not a witchhunt against the Brotherhood which will
lead to an illiberal democracy at best, and further volatility rather
than a way out of the crisis.
The
mass protest by the Brotherhood as well as its resolve to fight the
coup and what it sees as the illegal ouster of Morsi in the streets of
Cairo and other Egyptian cities demonstrates that it may be down but it
is certainly not out. The crackdown as well as the nature of the
military-approved roadmap for Egypt’s return to an elected government
guarantees that the country will be at best a guided democracy -
restricted or controlled behind-the-scenes by the military.
Ignore the economy at your peril
Ignore the economy at your peril
The
Obama administration’s message is further called into question by the
fact that its support for pro-democracy groups included aid to
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that served as fronts for
anti-Morsi politicians and even a former US-based police officer who
advocated violence. The US position is likely to be complicated as the
broad anti-Morsi coalition -- whose left-wing, liberal, Salafi,
pro-ancien regime and youth wings agree on little else besides Morsi’s
downfall -- inevitably falls apart.
With
the exception of the supporters of former autocrat, Hosni Mubarak, who
was toppled by a popular revolt in March 2011, few members of the
coalition are likely to be happy with a government that may well roll
back hard-fought freedoms acquired two years ago.
Initial
indications from the interim government suggest a return to Mubarak-era
economics that sparked the uprising in the first place. Anti-Morsi
forces have failed to heed a key lesson from Morsi’s failure: ignore the
economy at your peril. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and
Kuwait – Gulf states hostile to the Brotherhood – have thrown the
military and the government a life line with US$12 billion in immediate
aid. This has allowed it to entertain rejecting, like its predecessor, a
US$4.8 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan that would have
forced it to introduce the unpopular reforms needed to tackle the
economy’s structural problems.
A no-win situation
The US’ dilemma is indicative of the contradiction between the Obama administration’s rhetoric and its policy as well as its struggle to balance lofty ideals -- promotion of democracy and human rights -- with perceived short-term interests. Wholehearted support for change in the Middle East and North Africa would put the US at odds with almost all its Arab allies that are governed by repressive, autocratic leaders and could endanger continued Egyptian adherence to the peace treaty with Israel.
The US’ dilemma is indicative of the contradiction between the Obama administration’s rhetoric and its policy as well as its struggle to balance lofty ideals -- promotion of democracy and human rights -- with perceived short-term interests. Wholehearted support for change in the Middle East and North Africa would put the US at odds with almost all its Arab allies that are governed by repressive, autocratic leaders and could endanger continued Egyptian adherence to the peace treaty with Israel.
The
contradictions mean that the US in effect responds to developments on
the ground on a case-by-case basis. By definition, that ambiguity makes
it a target against the backdrop of a policy that for decades saw
autocrats as guarantors of stability at the expense of increasingly
disenfranchised and discontented populace seeking social justice and
greater freedom.
US
options in Egypt are limited. Saudi Arabia has already pledged to
compensate Egypt should the US cut off its US$1.5 billion in primarily
military aid. Moreover, US power is globally reduced by the fact that
the world has changed. It no longer deals primarily with dependent, poor
nations playing both ends of the cold war. These countries have become
largely middle-income nations, and have alternative options in a
multi-polar world. As a result the US faces a no-win situation in Egypt.
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