Washington’s Leverage Minimal in New Egypt
Protesters, who are against Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, react in Tahrir Square in Cairo July 3, 2013. Egypt’s armed forces overthrew elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Wednesday and announced a political transition with the support of a wide range of political, religious and youth leaders. A statement published in Mursi’s name on his official Facebook page after Egypt’s armed forces General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s speech said the measures announced amounted to “a full military coup” and were “totally rejected”. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (EGYPT – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) – RTX11BPD
More than $1 billion in US aid to Egypt is in jeopardy given the abrupt power shift in Cairo. Former National Security Council staffer Michael Singh says Washington’s military and economic assistance hasn’t bought it much leverage in the changing Egyptian landscape.
“It’s very hard to exercise influence in a crisis like this,” Singh says. “We didn’t focus enough on preparing for what might come next and were not thinking enough about civil society and mass movements and the other players on the scene who might become important in a crisis.”
Anchor Marco Werman gets more details from Singh, who is the managing director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.