A Middle East studies professor at the University of Delaware says President Obama has been M.I.A. when it comes to Egypt’s turmoil.
Muqtedar Khan, an associate professor of Islam & global affairs, tells “Delaware News and Noon” that the U.S. has become irrelevant to its own allies in the Middle East, as evidenced by recent developments surrounding unrest in Egypt.
“We find a very interesting situation where all of the regional allies of the United States--Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Israel--are supporting the Egyptian military and the U.S. does not really know what to do,” Khan says.
Khan says the U.S. wants to come across as supporting democracy, but does not have leverage with Egyptian military leaders. He says there has been a role reversal since the previous revolution.
“We are kind of back to 2010 with one significant difference,” Khan says. “In 2010, most of the population hated Mubarak. Now you have a very similar situation where a significant part of Egypt hates the Muslim Brotherhood and loves the army.”
He thinks both the military and Muslim Brotherhood share some of the blame for the continuing bloodshed.
