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Egypt's fascination with, and hatred of, the US The tragic developments in Egypt over the past few months have made Egyptians rediscover their hate for the US and its policies
At the heart of the relationship between Egyptians and the US is Washington's unjust position on the rights of the Palestinian people by unequivocally standing by Israel. There is also the official US response to recent developments in Egypt; hesitation and evasion by the Obama administration in whether to describe events in Egypt as a military coup or a people's revolution. This raised more questions among both the political elite and the Egyptian masses about whose side Washington is taking. The position of the Egyptian people is similar to others around the world. Although the US is a very young country compared to other nations, no more than 240 years old, there is no other country that evokes such strong responses, whether love or hate. This raises the question about what makes the US such an attractive positive model of education, culture and civilisation for the world's elite and peoples, including Egyptians. The American school of thought believes the US is fundamentally a great idea and a great story. Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said as much in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations: “The world is waiting for the US to lead the world and solve problems." Clinton emphasised that resolving global problems requires credentials, skills and a role “that only the US can play.” Barack Obama has also said that all world countries are jealous and wish to have the stature and strength of the US. But one can also look at the US as a great nation interested in attracting the best minds around the globe to study at its universities. Chinese, Indian and Russian students constitute the largest number of PhD students in engineering and technology studies in US universities. The US is always looking to the future and tries to apply the latest technology trends that eventually benefit the world; the Internet is a good example of this. The US is also the leader in providing innovative opportunities by prominent and successful citizens. Wealthy Americans founded the greatest universities in the world, and intellectual and scientific institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Rand, Ford, Rockefeller, Fulbright and Carnegie. Bill Gates donated more than $24 billion to AIDS research alone, and the best hospitals in the world are based in the US. Meanwhile, the US provides more than 50 per cent of world cultural production - books, magazines, newspapers, films, publications and scientific research. In the field of science and literature, the number of Nobel prizes won by Americans since the award was launched in 1901 is some 332, or 40 percent of all awarded Nobel Prize. More than half of these winners were not born in the US but became citizens after immigrating there. It is hard to imagine the human race not benefiting from the work of these scientists and others. The US is unique because it combines many anomalies, and we should not only focus on US policies without looking at the reasons why this or another administration adopts certain policies. It is erroneous to stereotype and ignore complex elements and compositions in this picture. A negative appraisal of the US as the source of many crises in the region and Egypt is incomplete, without viewing the US as an advanced political, cultural and economic model in the opinion of Egyptian and Arab public opinion – despite political anomalies. Thus, the inferences of many political forces in Egypt are both strange and pitiful in blaming Washington – some are even convinced that everything taking place in Egypt is the US's bidding. The “civil current” condemned the US for not describing events on 30 June as a popular revolution, while the “Islamist current” also denounced the US for not describing it as a military coup. But this does not preclude political cosmetic surgery in Washington by representatives from various Egyptian political groups. These forces compete on who will be the most vitriolic towards the US in their domestic political rhetoric directed at the Egyptian masses in Arabic, but at the same time they also clamber for the US's blessing and recognition in English. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/80482.aspx
