Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's power grab presents a unique opportunity for the Obama administration to take a firm position on what the United States will tolerate from post-Arab Spring governments, foreign-policy analysts say.
The power struggle that has pitted Egypt's first democratically elected president against his country's courts and military has drifted into murky legal waters, leaving analysts, officials and ordinary Egyptians scratching their heads over the question: who has the law on their side?
Samer Shehata, who teaches Arab politics at Georgetown University, said the U.S. "should not be quiet or silent about moves that threaten a democratic transition to democracy."
As a result, "the United States can't be seen to be dictating what the Egyptians should create as a democratic system," he said.
