Obama’s wavering: US foreign policy on the Egyptian crisis, 2011–13

Abstract

The existing literature explains the wavering course of President Barack Obama's policy on the 2001–03 Egyptian crisis as attributed to either his personal characteristics (lack of an international experience, predisposition to sermonize rather than to strategize) or to the impact of the decline of the United States as a global superpower (inability to influence foreign actors and contexts). Although both explanations are worthy of consideration, this article seeks to demonstrate that they are insufficient when accounting for the uncertainties shown by the United States during the Egyptian crisis. Domestic factors, particularly the internally divided US political elite and a foreign policy team with different views, played a crucial intervening role in defining the features of US foreign policy. It was domestic politics that made the Obama administration ineffective in dealing with the new scenario that emerged in the Middle East and in Egypt in particular.

Liderler ve Mısır Dış Politikası: Nasır ve Mursi Dönemlerinde Bireysel Etkenler

“…Also, the cancellation of the Camp David agreements would antagonize the US 99 as the treaty has maintained the core interests of the US: the utility of the Suez Canal for the US trade as well as for the free flow of Gulf oil. 100 As Egypt's traditional strategic ally, the US has provided Egypt with large amounts of economic aid since 1987. 101 It was argued that "without this aid, Egypt could not possibly have met its consumption requirement."…”

The promise to the Arab World: Attributes of U.S. President Obama in Arabic-language tweets

“…President Obama nonetheless called upon his reinstatement and delayed U.S. military aid to Egypt. In response, former Egyptian General Elsisi and newly elected President told The Washington Post reporters that the Obama administration ‘left the Egyptians’ and turned its ‘back on the Egyptians’ (See Fabbrini and Yossef, 2015: 78). Such statements by the President of Egypt during a time of political instability are likely to affect public opinion sentiments towards President Obama by the Egyptian people.…”