Meaningful Dialogue Should Include Islamists

Barack Obama’s visit to Cairo seems to be sparking a depressing quantity of nonsense criticism, but I think real questions are hanging over the long-run import of this kind of outreach. In that spirit, I would add my voice to what Matt Duss says here and what Michael Cohen and Brian Katulis say here, namely that a meaningful dialogue with the population in Egypt and neighboring countries requires a willingness to engage with the Islamist political movements that are, in most such places, the main source of political opposition.

It would be nice to think that we could cook up a nice crew of friendly, western-style, market-oriented, Israeli-loving, secularist Arabs to take the reigns of power in Arab capitals and spread the gospel of democracy. But you have to deal with societies as they actually exist, and in Egypt that means a society with a large and influential Muslim Brotherhood. The aim should be to move toward a healthier bilateral relationship, where the United States is not involved with actively propping up unpopular regimes or trying to micromanage the domestic politics of foreign countries.