Egypt demands US help — as long as it is on our terms

Newspaper Title: http://www.arabnews.com

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Friday - 8 December 2017

What Egyptians want from the US is a seemingly endless list of very complicated demands that may conflict with one another if truly addressed. Egyptians wonder why America, as a global superpower and the largest economy on earth, does not offer its full-fledged support to our country — especially after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, whom we, among a few other countries, hoped would win the presidency.
Egyptians want the US administration to help resolve Egypt’s economic challenges by investing a tiny percentage of its national budget in our economy, along with increasing economic aid substantially. In addition, we want the US to help us to settle our regional disputes by imposing our government’s political viewpoint on the nations with whom we are in conflict. While Egyptians are busy adding to their demands, we have not bothered to find reasonable justifications as to how the US would benefit by acceding.
Egyptians view successful foreign relations as “friendships with one-way benefits” (in our favor, obviously). We believe that other nations should be committed to helping us either because we once supported them a few decades ago or because, by strengthening the Egyptian state, they too will benefit. While we want the US and other nations to act on our demands, the Egyptian government believes foreign nations should not interfere in our domestic affairs; even the offer of advice is viewed as an attack on our national sovereignty.
The majority of our citizens tend to adhere to our inherited thinking pattern, including people who have permanently immigrated to other nations (but refrained from truly absorbing the cultures of their adopted homelands). Large numbers of well-educated Egyptians, some of whom have been living in the US for years, endorse this political proposition. Not making room for understanding other nations’ political dynamics has trapped us into over-anticipating their willingness to support us.