Egypt and the outbreak of international moralism
Watching the commentariat and the media react to events in Egypt has been instructive. As the protests have gathered force and as Mubarak’s grip has slipped, the chattering (and tweeting) classes have swung firmly and enthusiastically behind the reform movement. The story line has become a simple morality play: "Mubarak thugs battle nonviolent, pro-democracy forces." ...
Watching the commentariat and the media react to events in Egypt has been instructive. As the protests have gathered force and as Mubarak's grip has slipped, the chattering (and tweeting) classes have swung firmly and enthusiastically behind the reform movement. The story line has become a simple morality play: "Mubarak thugs battle nonviolent, pro-democracy forces." The Obama administration is routinely pilloried for being a step behind the protesters, too timid and reactive.
Watching the commentariat and the media react to events in Egypt has been instructive. As the protests have gathered force and as Mubarak’s grip has slipped, the chattering (and tweeting) classes have swung firmly and enthusiastically behind the reform movement. The story line has become a simple morality play: "Mubarak thugs battle nonviolent, pro-democracy forces." The Obama administration is routinely pilloried for being a step behind the protesters, too timid and reactive.
Quite quickly, Mubarak has become yesterday’s man, an embarrassment, a reminder of the cynical ways of international politics that cannot endure in our new democratic age. And so FP itself has compiled on its main page a portfolio of meet-and-greet photos of Mubarak being feted by the international community. How embarrassing! How cynical! The feature’s subhead reads: "For 30 years the world welcomed Egypt’s president — they shook his hand and looked the other way. But the time for photo ops is likely over."
Spare me for a moment. First of all, the United States and the rest of the world worked with Mubarak above all else because he was the leader Egypt had (and to which Egyptians acquiesced). And when you’re a practical political leader, you work with your counterparts. After all, wasn’t that Obama’s widely lauded schtick? We deal with the world as it is. We don’t engage in excessive moralism. We talk to everyone; even leaders we don’t like.
None of this means that I want Mubarak in power. I want him gone yesterday. And I think the wave of democratization sweeping the Arab world is necessary and beneficial. But I can’t help but be amused by the outbreak of moralism in a media that only a few years ago was routinely (and quite smugly) criticizing American foreign policy for an excess of it.
It’s easy enough to piously declaim on the virtues of democracy now that the people have taken to the street and an autocratic government is hanging by a thread. It’s pretty damned hard before that point. After all, are we embarrassed about photos of Obama with Hu? Or do we recognize that you’ve got to deal with the Chinese government that you have if you want to solve serious issues? No matter. If and when the Chinese people do decide to rid themselves of the Communist Party we can all happily pretend that we were democracy activists all along.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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