Academics' letter to President Obama
Issandr El AmraniA number of prominent academics from the field of Middle East Studies and beyond have penned a letter to President Obama about the situation in Egypt. Get it in PDF here or visit Accuracy.org or EgyptLetter. The text is also below.
An Open Letter to President Barack Obama
January 30, 2010 Dear President Obama:
As political scientists, historians, and researchers in related fields who have studied the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, we the undersigned believe you have a chance to move beyond rhetoric to support the democratic movement sweeping over Egypt. As citizens, we expect our president to uphold those values.
For thirty years, our government has spent billions of dollars to help build and sustain the system the Egyptian people are now trying to dismantle. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Egypt and around the world have spoken. We believe their message is bold and clear: Mubarak should resign from office and allow Egyptians to establish a new government free of his and his family’s influence. It is also clear to us that if you seek, as you said Friday “political, social, and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people,” your administration should publicly acknowledge those reforms will not be advanced by Mubarak or any of his adjutants.
There is another lesson from this crisis, a lesson not for the Egyptian government but for our own. In order for the United States to stand with the Egyptian people it must approach Egypt through a framework of shared values and hopes, not the prism of geostrategy. On Friday you rightly said that “suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.” For that reason we urge your administration to seize this chance, turn away from the policies that brought us here, and embark on a new course toward peace, democracy and prosperity for the people of the Middle East. And we call on you to undertake a comprehensive review of US foreign policy on the major grievances voiced by the democratic opposition in Egypt and all other societies of the region.
The full list of signatories is in the PDF.
Reader Comments (7)
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I agree with this letter 100%. President Obama Please used this opportunity and support the Egyptian people in their demand to regain their respect, love and trust in the American policy and People.
Pres. Obama will see which way the wind blows and give a speech. He did nothing for the Iranian protesters, he'll do nothing for Egypt but give a speech.
He does not care about foreign policy, he has a country of his own to drive into the ground.
This is a great blog, please keep it up.
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The Middle East studies departments in the U.S. are dominated by individuals of the far left. While there is nothing more wrong with being on the far left than the far right, MESA members are not generally focusing on U.S. interests. President Obama however must pay close attention to U.S. interests in the region, in addition to promoting the universal values (i.e. democracy and human rights) on which the U.S. was founded.
Mr.President,the United States of America was founded by a revolution by the people and I belief what is happening in Egypt is a revolution!!! United States has always said if a country wants democracy and over throw their government we would help them,well that is what is happening in Egypt,a revolution by the people!!!Please ask the Egyptian President to leave office right now and support the people that want true freedom and a better way of life it is obvious that the people of Egypt had enough,help them create a government by the people and for the people,I think they would be eternally grateful.
This is interesting, the world is changing in that more people are saying "enough is enough." It's a new thing for the policy people who have to adapt their ways of dealing with the world, and I think Obama CAN do it - he can be a liberal and do what the people want.