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A Year After Morsi Coup, 'Business-As-Usual' In U.S.-Egypt Relations

U.S. Department of State
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Flickr Public Domain
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry chats with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry before they hold a news conference in Cairo, Egypt, on July 25, 2014.

It’s been almost 13 months since the coup that ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi. Since then, there’s been a great deal of violence that accompanied the transition leading to the inauguration of AbdelFattahel-Sisi on June 8.

Last month at a press conference in Cairo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated that Egypt is still transitioning toward democracy. But University of Oklahoma Middle East scholar and Muslim Brotherhood expert Samer Shehata says the crackdown on political dissidents and press freedom, as well as moves against the instigators of the 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak show Egypt isn’t heading in a democratic direction.

“The United States always, in the case of Egypt, puts its supposed national security interests over things like democracy, human rights, and rule of law,” Shehata says. “For example, the maintenance of the Camp David peace accord between Egypt and Israel, the access that American military have over Egyptian skies, overflight rights, or passage through the Suez Canal for American military.”

Egypt is set to host indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo as the two sides attempt to work toward a more durable truce. Egypt has proposed a cease-fire plan that is backed by the U.S. and Israel, but it's been rejected by Hamas. Shehata says a coalition of Arab states has emerged against Hamas, led by Egypt that also includes Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

“These are the states that are hostile to political Islam, to Islamist forces, and they see in Hamas the Muslim Brotherhood,” Shehata says. “So they’re very, very hostile to Hamas, and in that sense it is tacit support to what Israel is doing.”

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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