The US Must Stand For Democracy in the Middle East

As global attention zeroes in on the Israel war on Gaza following Hamas attacks earlier this month, and corruption charges face a U.S. senator and his ties to Egypt, it is noteworthy that for many decades, the region has been synonymous with instability and violence.

I grew up in Cairo, Egypt, and have been teaching in the U.S. about that region at the university level for more than a decade, nine years after I arrived to the U.S. where I am a citizen.

The U.S. government has been ineffective at stopping the discord in the region directly and indirectly by what some see as inaction and silence.

U.S. leaders and policymakers must stand up for democratic values in the Middle East and stand against corruptions, wars, and military and colonialist regimes in the region.

President Joe Biden is standing in support of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he launches war on Gaza, issuing a brief joint statement with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for the “protection of civilians.” Biden also announced $100 million in aid to Palestine.

The consensus among many observers is that the U.S.’s main concern is to stabilize the region at any cost.

There have been so many reasons for the longstanding and ongoing turbulence in the Middle East, which goes back in its modern version to regimes of post-independence in 1950s. These reasons include colonial wars or invasions of neighboring countries.

Other complications are the presence of corrupt dictatorships such as Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Bashar al-Assad and Hafiz al-Assad in Syria, as well as military dictatorships in Egypt.

The Arab-Israeli conflict goes back to 1948, starting with a war between five Arab countries and Israel after the establishment of the state of Israel in the same year. After that, many wars took place and United Nations resolutions have been discarded by the parties involved.

The Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 represented a great opportunity to establish democracy in the region. But reactionary political elites, tyrannical old regimes, as well as regional and superpowers worked together to contain the change.

Many media observers focus on a singular reason for the turmoil in the Middle East. But the truth is that many factors have contributed to making this region a site of human losses, killing, and violence.

It appears the U.S. has been interested in maintaining short-term stability and allyships more than long-term stability that benefits people of the region. Israel’s security and the flow of oil are often cited as determinants for U.S. foreign policy in the region.

There is also evidence of corruption and influence by at least one U.S. policymaker.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are facing charges in court this week of bribery and conspiracy to act as a foreign agent for Egypt by the Justice Department. At the time Menendez was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez is pleading not guilty to the charge that he and his wife accepted cash, gold bars, and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator’s help and influence over foreign affairs.

The problem is much deeper than this case.

Bribery is defined legally as a corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action. There are also oil and arms sales used for allyship with Saudi Arabia, military bases used for protection, and silence on human rights records in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar as well as military sales and aid for maintaining influence in Egypt.

The logic of bribery is the opposite of transparency and accountability, which are significant parts of democracy. The logic of democracy stands on the foundation of equality, people’s power, and people’s rule and presumes the right of representative governments to deliberate and the people’s right to hold officials accountable.

In his 2012 book, Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the U.S.-Egyptian Alliance, author Jason Brownlee writes, the U.S. has impeded democratic change and reinforced authoritarianism over time.

The government of Egypt punishes Egyptian artists and activists who speak the truth in the U.S.

After his participation in series of Congressional meetings in 2019 to discuss Egypt’s dictator Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi’s human rights violations and the constitutional amendments to extend the dictator’s power, actors Amr Amr Waked and Khaled Abol Naga were expelled from their union for “conspiring against Egypt’s security and stability.”

Waked was sentenced to eight years in prison in a military trial. According to Human Rights Watch, there is a strong evidence that Egyptian intelligence officials trained the Tiger Team squad that killed Washington Post journalist and Saudi Arabia resident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and provided the drugs that were used to sedate him.

At the time in 2018 Menendez was allegedly trying to help Egyptian officials ensure weapons continued to flow, Egypt was detaining and torturing U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents—including Mustafa Kassem, who would later die in prison in January 2020.

To be sure, one corrupt Senator does not damn the entire U.S. government.

For the U.S., a solution to dealing with the region can be to work for long-term stability based on supporting genuinely representative, inclusive, and democratic regimes.

U.S. leaders and policymakers must stand up for democratic values in the Middle East and stand against corruptions, wars, and military and colonialist regimes in the region.

It is the right thing to do.