We cannot have national reconciliation, or aspire for a happy ending for the ongoing transitional period, unless Egyptian politicians and jihadists, the Islamists as well as the seculars, abandon their obsessive urge to please America. The epic days we've just had, the blood that was spilled, the lives that were cut short, the time that was wasted, the statements that were made, the mobilisation of army and people, the rallies in every square and every city, the time we spend comparing crowds, and the flood of emotion that shook us to the core and that reverberated across the world, especially in Arab countries, all this has to amount to something. The revolution has stayed the course, and its timing was brilliant. Across the Arab world, the reaction was clear: “You, Egyptians, have given us hope, and we will stand with you to stop the haemorrhage of dignity, freedom and independence, from which all our revolutions now suffer.” The forcefulness of sentiment and the truthfulness of solidarity touched our hearts, so we stood taller and our enthusiasm grew by the day. We regained the confidence to do revolutionary things, even when our constitutional capabilities are shattered. We have experienced wonderful moments, and seen this nation undergoing a new birth. And yet, amid the flurry of excitement, many ears were cocked and many eyes were riveted, gauging with trepidation and concern the words and actions of a third party, one that lives in a distant land. Those who were happy among us, just as those who were dismayed, were too busy keeping track of the US reaction and monitoring the banality of the messages that poured freely from CNN at those critical moments. It is time this unhealthy co-dependence is terminated. There is no denying that the global forces of domination and hegemony have changed their ways. Gone are the days of gunboat diplomacy and direct occupation. Gone are the days when foreign rulers were forced by gunfire to sign documents of submission. Gone are the days when the palaces of government were besieged to force officials to change their economic doctrine, or to get them to close factories or change one type of crop production for another. Now the individual is the target, not the state. The individual is the one that is manipulated and pressured. Phones and communications are tapped, and whistleblowers are hunted down like hardened criminals. See how Edward Snowden was treated, or how the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria, on mere suspicion that Snowden may be onboard, an action that is in clear breach of international law, and an affront to Bolivian sovereignty. This goes to show that hegemonic global powers stop at nothing when it comes to oppressing weaker nations and leaders. Let's admit — whether we are rebels or jihadists, preachers or officers, rich or poor — that Egypt has lived for 30 or 40 years hostage to America. Many of us made revolutionary noises about it, spoke out in outrage, or railed against the nonsensicality of the situation. And some have given up, stopped complaining, and allowed their disapproval to ebb. Still, all seem to have accepted the fact that US domination over Egypt is a foregone conclusion, an inescapable destiny — like the Nile or the desert, lasting and immutable. I doubt that any official has thought for the past few decades, or is thinking now, of changing the modalities of Egyptian-American relations. I doubt that anyone about to take charge of the revival and future of this country is considering the need to set boundaries in our relations with the Americans. I wonder if anyone can truly draw a plan, short or long-term, for a civilised, independent, and productive country, while keeping this country shackled by the provisions of an international treaty and the exigencies of annual assistance. Egypt is tied down with maps and rules that undermine the very connection that linked Sinai with the motherland for thousands of years. Egypt has lived in shackles for 40 years, caught in an unnatural relation with a superpower. Then it had a revolution for dignity, for the dignity of the citizen and the land. Now, as the euphoria continues, Egypt is trying to draw the course of its future, and yet it is still bound in chains. Should Egypt draw the map for its future while keeping its chains, the next 40 years will be no different from the past 40 years. Should Egypt, instead, decide to break free from its chains, it may be able to rewrite its destiny. This nation, having suffered beyond endurance, knows how things turn out when US foreign policy is pursued. We all know what happened in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Tunisia, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen over the past 20 years or so. The catastrophic outcome of US policy is plain enough for any sensible observer to admit. The Egyptians have the right to ask their new leaders, and the leaders of the US, to submit a balance sheet for the benefits other nations may have gained from US policy, from US attempts to promote certain regimes that believe in political Islam, or from its attempts to submit other nations to various experiments in economy and social engineering. The Egyptians have the right to ask our leaders, and US leaders, to reconsider Egyptian-US relations and to negotiate different types of ties that show respect for the dignity of Egypt and its people. Our current crisis is likely to endure as long as our politicians refrain from discussing the consequences of the current pattern of Egyptian-US relations. We cannot go on regarding this pattern as immutable or believing it to be sustainable. It is my wish to see this country draw for itself a roadmap that spares us the distasteful scene that unfolded over the past two weeks, when Washington acted as if it were a puppeteer and we were its puppets. This cannot be allowed to go on.
The writer is a political analyst and director of the Arab Centre for Development and Futuristic Research.
