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A Renewed Middle East?

(Ha'aretz) Emmanuel Sivan - Ever since the G8 Sea Island summit in June, there has been a heavy cloud hanging over Egyptian-American relations. The revised formulation of Bush's Middle East vision adopted at the summit calls for basic reforms in the countries of the region. It is not by chance that Mubarak was the most scathing in his response to the summit, declaring that an attempt to encourage reforms from the outside is liable to lead to anarchy. The Egyptian regime's major interest is to ensure another presidential term for Mubarak, which requires an amendment to the constitution by means of a referendum - a resounding slap in the face for America's vision of democratization. Since the Egyptians have no desire to clash with the world's only remaining superpower, they are taking limited steps directed towards the U.S., not Israel, which are dictated by interests of its own, while at the same time not decreasing the severity of the anti-Semitic attacks in its media. The renewed Middle East is not just around the corner.
2004-12-27 00:00:00
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