Kerry Gets the Cold Shoulder

March 5, 2013

Published in Neues Deutschland
(Germany) on 4 March 2013
by Roland Etzel (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Gillian Palmer.

For new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the first Egypt visit was mission impossible right from the start. But that was not his fault. These days, Egypt is a minefield for U.S. diplomats because Kerry's predecessors, Rice and Clinton, always paid less attention to Egyptian interests while acting primarily as advocates for Israel.

As usual, the State Department is clueless as to how the U.S. government should deal with the power struggles going on in Egypt. It's obvious that Washington wants to keep Cairo — the heart of the Arab world — as an ally, but only as an obedient ally. It wants that arrangement whether Egypt is ruled by Mubarak (with America's blessing), an unelected military junta, a moderate(?) Islamist like Mursi or the popular choice of those in Tahrir Square. This striking arbitrariness under the motto “who cares who's in charge as long as he's in our pocket?” is common knowledge in Egypt and is known to all sides.

And it was a bit of Kerry's own clumsiness when he said, “We're not here to interfere, but to listen,” and with the next breath called for a new Egyptian government. Irritating at the very least, it was perhaps the reason that Mohammed El-Baradei, a key opposition figure, avoided appearing with Kerry publicly.

Von Roland Etzel
04.03.2013
Kalte Schulter für Kerry

Für den neuen US-Außenminister Kerry war sein erster Ägypten-Besuch eine Mission, die kaum erfolgreich sein konnte. Das lag zunächst weniger an ihm selbst. Ägypten gilt für US-Diplomaten derzeit als vermintes Gelände, weil Kerrys Vorgängerinnen in diesem Amt, Rice und Clinton, die Belange Ägyptens stets wenig beachtet und sich in erster Linie als Sachwalterinnen israelischer Interessen präsentiert hatten.

Kennzeichnend für das State Department ist aktuell eine anhaltende Ratlosigkeit, wie sich die US-Regierung zu den Machtkämpfen in Ägypten stellen sollte. Es ist offensichtlich, dass Washington Kairo, das Herz der arabischen Welt, um jeden Preis als - untergeordneten - Verbündeten behalten möchte; ganz gleich ob dort Mubarak von Amerikas Gnaden regiert, ein durch keinerlei Wahl legitimierter Militärrat, ein gemäßigter(?) Islamist Mursi oder die Favoriten des Tahrir-Platzes. Diese auffällige Beliebigkeit nach dem Motto »Egal, wer regiert - Hauptsache in unserem Fahrwasser -, wird bemerkt in Ägypten, und zwar von allen Seiten.«

Einiges Ungeschick Kerrys kommt hinzu. Wenn er sagt, er sei »nicht gekommen, um mich in ägyptische Angelegenheiten einzumischen«, im selben Atemzug aber eine neue Regierung fordert, ist dies zumindest irritierend. Vielleicht war dies Grund genug, weshalb Mohammed El-Ba᠆radei, eines der Gesichter der Opposition, es vorzog, sich nicht mit Kerry zu zeigen.

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