As you have probably noticed, the Islamic world is in the midst of an exciting, violent, and uncertain period. Starting with protests in Tunisia, the fervor spread to Egypt, perhaps the most publicized case, and then to other countries like Bahrain, Libya, and most recently Morocco, Yemen, and Iran (did I miss any?). Opinions vary on protesters' actions and government responses, but what I want to focus on is the difficult time the U.S. State Department is having with the recent developments, and in particular how the U.S. is balancing the need to appear fully behind democracy while still supporting its decidedly un-democratic allies in the region.
Let's look for a second at Egypt. After the assassination of Anwar Sadat about thirty years ago, Hosni Mubarak took over and proved to be a consistent ally of the U.S. in a region where allies are few and far between, considering the situation with Israel. Now, a "president" does not stay in power for thirty years without some heavy-handed tactics at the polls, but where the U.S. would normally issue statements encouraging voting reforms and U.N. involvement in elections, we looked the other way in Egypt. Why? Because Mubarak and his corrupt, inefficient government were the only things standing in the way of Islamic fundamentalists taking control of the country. And why was this such a concern? Think about it; when your village is having trouble getting clean drinking water and the government won't lift a finger, the only group to turn to is your local Muslim Brotherhood chapter (this put into layman's terms). Now, perhaps I haven't explained it as eloquently as I could have, but the fact is that these groups are active in communities, getting things done for the people when the government bureaucracy is too inept. This wins them support that, despite their motives, is well earned.
So, when protests for real democracy flare up in Egypt, what is the U.S. to say? Well, in the State of the Union Address, the president referenced the protests in Tunisia by stating that the U.S. supports democracy abroad, etc.. So the White House will immediately issue a statement in support of the protesters, right? Not so, for unlike in Tunisia, Egypt is in danger of falling into the wrong hands and borders Israel and holds control over the Suez Canal, a.k.a the place where all the oil comes through. In truth, the U.S. would much rather have had Mubarak stay than see a truly democratic Egypt. The White House walked the diplomatic tight-rope of not hanging Mubarak out to dry while also not appearing to discourage the protesters. Quite Bismark-esque, I would venture.
The exact same situation seems to be happening in Bahrain. Protests there against the royal family turned violent recently as the government sent riot police in to crack down on the protesters, killing many in the scrum. Shame! Condemnation! But wait, the U.S. and the Bahraini royal family are great allies, and we have a large naval base in the country, our largest military foothold in the Persian Gulf! So, some ho-humming in Washington, a statement from the White House, not even a slap on the wrist really. Why? Because democracy, the great light of the world, is simply not in the U.S.' interests.
It is also interesting to note that the exact opposite of this situation is true with the protests happening in Libya and Iran. The State Department, I believe it was, even went so far as to set up a Twitter account to send out revolutionary messages of support in Farsi to the people of Iran. They are all-for democracy in those places, because there is nothing the U.S. would like more than to see Muammar Gaddafi and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad get ousted.
But all of that explaining aside, I suppose the main thing I'd like you to take away from this piece is that even though the U.S. more or less claims to support democracy over tyranny and corruption in all cases everywhere, It really doesn't, and I found that interesting and felt the need to point it out. This is no new revelation, I'm merely shedding some light on the more recent examples. Are the concerns of Egypt becoming a fundamentalist Islamic state like Iran well-founded? Perhaps..and perhaps not...this and other more opinionated matters, like should the U.S. actually support democracy unconditionally, or should we at least stop lying about supporting it, you may take up with me personally.
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