The Devil You Know

-Helen-Margaret Nasser

Obama's campaigning is not over. He may have charmed America, but it will be tougher to win over Egyptians who are disenchanted by his first term performance. 

For Egyptians, President Obama's visit to Cairo in June 2009 was a promising harbinger of change for American relations with the Arab and Islamic worlds. Obama's campaign message of hope and change resonated with Egyptians. A New York Times article from 2009 assessed his performance:

“Again and again, Muslim listeners said they were struck by how skillfully Mr. Obama appropriated religious, cultural and historical references in ways other American presidents had not. He included four quotations from the Koran and used Arabic greetings. He took note of longstanding historical grievances like the stain of colonialism, American support for the Iranian coup of 1953 and the displacement of the Palestinian people. His speech was also embraced for what it did not do: use the word terrorism, broadly seen here as shorthand for an attack on Islam.”

Fast-forward three years and Obama's promises seem much less credible. Egyptians are skeptical and view him as a liar. "Obama lied to the whole Arab world," one Egyptian man explained, "everybody thought he would be on the Muslims' side. But, none of that has happened."

But how much does all this matter? If the Egyptians are disenchanted, frankly, who cares? Certainly, they aren't the only nation to have been misled, slighted, or trampled by the U.S. This matters only because Obama positioned himself to be extraordinary. He was not going to be that same old American president who is your friend only when it is convenient. He was not going to make promises he couldn't keep. He was going to change the "business as usual" tone of American politics.  He really cared. Aw, now isn't that sweet? 
 

Regardless of the empty promises and naivete, what can Egyptians, or any of us, expect now from Obama's second term? The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. We'll see what the next four years will mean for Obama and for the Egyptians, too.