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From the Syria Veto to the Egypt NGO Crisis

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Robert Satloff - Not only did Moscow and Beijing succeed in blocking a resolution on Syria not to their liking, they also procured from Washington a commitment not to intervene militarily. While it has been no secret that elements of the Egyptian regime (both before and since the revolution) have been incensed at what they perceive to be U.S. meddling in Egypt's internal affairs via the operations of the NGOs, a tacit bargain has permitted them to stay in business for years, without formal registration. One of the great ironies of the current crisis is that a revolution whose most democratic and liberal proponents benefited from the training provided by U.S. NGOs has now turned on those very institutions. In both cases, the reluctance to draw stark alternatives for the key actors only invited bad behavior to become worse. The writer is executive director of The Washington Institute.
2012-02-08 00:00:00
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