To look at the US-Egyptian relationship is to look at the classic struggle between interests and values in a bilateral relationship with the United States. The relationship pits concerns over human rights and democracy against derived security and strategic advantages. Since the ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected president in July 2013, the highly volatile political climate has led to large scale human rights abuses and a criminalization of dissent. The Obama administration’s rhetoric over the past few months illustrates the wishful thinking shaping the discourse over Egypt as it struggles to reconcile its stated support for a democratic transition with the realities unfolding on the ground.

In her most recent article on EgyptSource, Amy Hawthorne, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, conducts a review of the Obama administration’s latest statements on Egypt to highlight the recurring theme in its messaging that often appears at odds to the political context. Her article titled, “Wishful Thinking: The Obama Administration’s Rhetoric on Democracy and Human Rights in Egypt,” illustrates US discomfort with the deteriorating rights conditions and resurging authoritarianism while trying to maintain a strong–or at least workable–core security relationship. Hawthorne notes how verbal acrobatics and subtle back-peddling leads to undisciplined messaging and relagates human rights to a peripheral concern so long as strategic interests remain safe. 

For the full article, read “Wishful Thinking: The Obama Administration’s Rhetoric on Democracy and Human Rights in Egypt,” on EgyptSource.