"The Arab League's secretary-general may not be popular with Israel or the US, but Egyptians like him so much they literally sing his praises." BBC
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The US and Israel have reason to distrust Amre Moussa. IMO he is an Arab Nationalist of the old school. He never approved of the treaty with Israel or Egypt's close, if somewhat one sided, relationship with the US. His countrymen largely agree with him in these sentiments. Why would they not like him? He was an apparatchik of the Mubarak regime who was never loyal to "the boss." As the Harvey Keitel character says to his long term enemy at the end of the film, "The Duelists," "You never really loved the emperor..."
Amre Moussa never loved the US. His animosity smoldered below the surface at meetings. IMO he will be elected and will take Egypt on a new journey. pl
Moussa may be an Arab nationalist, but as a living political project Arab nationalism is long dead.
I agree that Israel has much to fret about; the political and economic energy necessary to maintain it is unsustainable. Any political consciousness on the part of Egyptians, or anyone else, is bound to cause rethinking about relations with Israel.
But apart from our suicide pact with Israel I don't quite see how Moussa's election can cause trouble for us. Previously, Arab nationalists made use of the Cold War to play us off the Soviets. Who would they turn to now?
Can there be an Egyptian natonalism that is not pan-Arab?
Posted by: jr786 | 15 May 2011 at 10:21 PM
Should I distrust him more than AIPAC or Netanyahu?
Hopefully he will show his intentions more openly than AIPAC and Netanyahu.
Robert C.
Posted by: Robert C. | 15 May 2011 at 11:15 PM
Could someone give a brief history of the ARAB LEAGUE?
Does this go back to Nasser?
Posted by: William R. Cumming | 16 May 2011 at 08:37 AM
Col: Sometimes "new journeys" are good things.
For example, I would like to see the US shake off a number of historical alliances. The Israeli connection is obviously toxic. The British "special relationship" is increasingly a fantasy, if for no other reason than that the British keep cutting their military.
Without these "entanglements" we can focus on fixing the Great Republic. And that will be a full-time job.
Posted by: Matthew | 16 May 2011 at 10:22 AM
In my opinion, the most important question for Egypt is how Amre Moussa (assuming he wins) feels about peaceful, democratic transfer of power. Will he leave office in due time, or will he try to hang on? Any idea?
Posted by: mohsen-ryan | 17 May 2011 at 04:50 PM