Editorial: Diplomatic necessity Sunday, 08 January 2012 02:38

A  few years ago, it would have been a diplomatically outrageous and insane act to think of a rapprochement between Egypt’s Brotherhood and the American administration. But history always throws up surprises, and the latest one is that the Obama administration is thinking of doing business with the Muslim Brotherhood and establish relations with the ‘once hated’ organization.

The new US strategy is a reaction to the new realities emerging on the ground. Egypt is a strategic partner for Washington and it cannot decide that it will engage with the government in Cairo only if it is ruled by someone of its liking. After the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians have been clear on who should rule them. The elections held in the country have shown unequivocally that the people prefer Islamist parties over secular parties. The reason is Islamists have deep roots in the Egyptian society and were present when Mubarak was ruling the country, while the secular parties, much preferred by the West, have no network and connections with the people which can match that of their electoral rivals. So keeping aloof from the Islamist parties would ultimately mean shutting the door on the future government. The Obama administration has been intelligent enough to understand this reality and has acted wisely by choosing to engage with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood also, on their part, has been happy to extend a hand of cooperation to the West, especially America, and has repeatedly asserted that they stand for peace and harmony and will be happy to abide by all the international treaties which the previous governments has signed. The US decision to engage with the Brotherhood will set an example for other Western governments and they will not be far behind in building and mending ties with the Islamists. Being Islamist is not being extremist, they have been saying.

In fact US officials are saying the recent outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood, which appears destined to win the largest share of parliamentary seats, is a chance to put in practice policies of President Obama which he first outlined nearly three years ago in a major speech proposing a new relationship of mutual respect with the Muslim world. In May, three months after Hosni Mubarak resigned after a popular uprising, Obama reiterated that theme by saying that “not every country will follow our particular form of representative democracy, and there will be times when our short-term interests don’t align perfectly with our long-term vision for the region.”

As a leading power in the Arab world, Egypt is vital for US interests and for its key ally Israel. So it is natural that US is readjusting to the new realities.