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Democratic Dreams Neglected in the Land of the Pharaohs: US Democracy Assistance in Egypt

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Abstract

This paper examines the Obama Administration’s approach to democracy promotion in Egypt. After a brief discussion of the motivation for promoting democracy, this essay compares the Obama Administration to its predecessor and analyzes the changes that were spurred by the Arab Awakening. Did the Obama Administration, during and after the 2011 Revolution, fully support democratic change in Egypt not only with rhetoric but also with the financial and programmatic support necessary to help a transitioning country? Did the Obama Administration offer a consistent message on the importance of democratic policies? Or did the administration allow other policy objectives to trump democratic efforts? This paper explores the language, policies, and funding employed by the Obama Administration in Egypt to see what the impact has been.

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Notes

  1. She went on to add “supporting democratic transitions is not a matter of idealism. It is a strategic necessity.” (Clinton 2012a).

  2. Interviews, State Department Officials, December 2012 and March 2014, Washington D.C.

  3. Between 1998 and 2004, Egypt’s average on Civil Liberties was 6 and Political Freedoms was 6. Between 2005 and 2014, Civil Liberties was a 5 and Political Freedoms was a 6. See Freedom House, www.freedomhouse.org

  4. When one reads through a few USAID reports on Egypt, one notes an emphasis on economic development.

  5. One program, “Administration of Justice Support II (AOJS)” that USAID supported under its democracy and governance section reported 25,715 training days delivered between FY 2005 and FY 2007. This included 2,488 judges who received training (including duplicate training). For further details, see Beyina (2008).

  6. NED Annual Reports from 2005 to 2010 can be found at http://www.ned.org/publications.

  7. The Budget for the Defense Department in FY 2010 was $530.8 billion (www.whitehouse.org/omb/factsheet_department_defense).

  8. Installing democracy via the use of military force (Iraq 2003) has given democracy promotion a bad name (Carothers 2007).

  9. Interview, December 2012, Washington, D.C.

  10. One US official I spoke to denied that democracy promotion had been placed on the backburner. Interview with Haynes Mahoney, Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. April 6, 2010.

  11. Confidential Communication, NGO activist, March 16, 2010.

  12. Interview with Haynes Mahoney, Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. April 6, 2010.

  13. MEPI, “Middle East Partnership Initiative: Expanding Citizen-Government Dialogue Request for Applications,” February 23, 2013, page 8. The request for applications can be found at mepi.state.gov.

  14. Confidential Communication with a journalist in Cairo, Egypt, March 30, 2010.

  15. Confidential Communication with a human rights activist in Cairo, Egypt, April 2, 2010.

  16. In June of 2010, the USA, along with the UK, expressed concerns about freedom of expression, assembly, physical integrity, and the voting irregularities in recent Shura Council elections at the UN Human Rights Council’s Periodic Review of the status of human rights in Egypt (El-Bey 2010).

  17. Twenty-four organizations issued a statement which criticized the lack of an inclusive drafting process, the lack of basic freedoms, and the theocratic elements in the draft constitution: this draft constitution fails to uphold the objectives of the January 25th Revolution and undermines the values of citizenship, equality, freedom, and human rights…In its draft of the constitution, the Assembly supports the cornerstones of political tyranny by adopting a system which enshrines massive powers for the presidency, as was the case prior to January 25, 2011. It also leaves the door wide open to the creation of a religious state, which poses severe challenges to rights and freedoms (CIHRS 2012).

  18. The draft constitution was voted on in a referendum in December 2012. The turnout was 33% and 64 % voted in favor of the new constitution (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2012).

  19. This is consistent with Berger’s analysis.

  20. Although it is worth noting that most Egyptians already have a very negative view of the US’ government. A poll taken in September 2013 showed that 94 % of Egyptian respondents had an unfavorable view of the USA. The only state that had a higher unfavorable rating was Israel (98 %) (Zogby 2013).

  21. The Tamarod (rebel) Movement collected over 20 million signatures in approximately two months (Economist 2013).

  22. President Morsi was unwilling to compromise despite the large protests in June. He believed he could survive the protests. One EU diplomat noted, “Despite our persistent efforts [at mediation], Morsi was convinced he was going to ride out the 30 June protests and so would not go the extra mile to accommodate his opponents” (International Crisis Group 2013).

  23. The State Department concluded a legal review of the situation and decided the administration did not have to decide if it was a coup or not (Harf 2013). One NGO activist noted, “It was a military coup. It’s illegitimate. This not something you will hear from most Copts. I did not like Morsi was doing, but he was still democratically elected.” Interview, October 11, 2013.

  24. http://www.constitutionnet.org/files/protest_law_issued_nov_24.pdf.

  25. The referendum on the draft constitution was approved with 98 % of those who cast a ballot voting in favor of the draft constitution. Voter turnout was under 40 %.

  26. In this respect, the Obama Adminstration has followed the policies of the Bush Administration and focused on “a crude reading of the ‘modernationization’ school of thinking” and influenced how it promoted democracy (Berger 2011:38).

  27. This is not simply due to difficult economic times as security assistance programs in MENA saw an 11 % increase in the budget request.

  28. “One of the strongest convictions I have formed in 25 years of studying civil society organizations in developing countries is that they need core organizational funding from external donors” (Diamond 2008, 320).

  29. Alterman explained, “But if we are honest with ourselves, we need to recognize that, as a group, such liberals are increasingly aging, increasingly isolated, and diminishing in numbers.” He went on to explain “that the U.S. government needs to push consistently and aggressively for greater freedom of association in the Middle East.”

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  1. Central Washington University, 400 E University Way, Ellensburg, WA, 98926-7578, USA

    Barbara Ann Rieffer-Flanagan

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Correspondence to Barbara Ann Rieffer-Flanagan.

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Rieffer-Flanagan, B.A. Democratic Dreams Neglected in the Land of the Pharaohs: US Democracy Assistance in Egypt. Hum Rights Rev 15, 433–454 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-014-0332-4

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