Democracy Policy In Ashes
27 June 2006

In a June 27th Washington Post op-ed, Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, draws attention to what he calls “the bitter disappointment that Egypt's democrats feel over the apparent waning of the Bush administration's ardor for their cause.” He maintains that this disappointment stems from a widely-held perception that the Bush administration has begun to reverse itself on support for Middle East democracy.

Muravchik says that, after witnessing the liberalization of public life prior to Egypt’s first presidential election, many Egyptian democrats hoped that continued US pressure would result in further political openings. But mixed US responses to renewed abuses (such as formulaic criticism and the postponement of trade talks as contrasted with high level meetings with Gamal Mubarak) have left many Egyptian political actors feeling hung out to dry. The Post op-ed also points out a cooling of the Bush administration’s support for democracy in Iraq, noting that funding was cut for numerous civil society projects, human rights organizations, and dozens of other projects designed to nurture the seedlings of democracy.

Muravchik goes on to hypothesize that the administration’s new attitude is due in part to the unfavorable consequences of democracy as evidenced by the popularity of Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. However, he argues that the US response in Egypt is particularly foolhardy, because those subject to the current repression offer a truly viable alternative to both the current regime and the Islamists. Muravchik believes that the current rebellion by Egypt’s independent-minded judges has great potential for political change, which explains the severity with which the Mubarak regime has treated it. In that context, he concludes, the Bush administration’s response appears completely inexplicable.