In stifling opposition ahead of an election in March, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has started to look a lot like Vladimir Putin, writes Elliott Abrams for the Council on Foreign Relations. Washington needs to wise up, because Egyptians probably already have.
“That Sisi feels it necessary to do this is a cautionary tale for Washington. How popular can this man be if he is afraid to let any serious opponent take him on? Logically, someone who is popular will be happy to have that demonstrated by a smashing electoral victory. Sisi is acting like someone who knows he has lost the support of the Egyptian people,” Abrams writes.
“And if he knows his popularity has disappeared, we in the United States should be equally aware--and that should inform American policy toward Sisi’s regime. We have tended to treat him like the popular leader who saved Egypt from the Muslim Brotherhood, because that's how many Egyptians saw him in 2013.
“But that's five years ago and it seems clear to Sisi that more and more Egyptians now regard him as just another general, intent on staying in power forever, repressing any criticism, presiding over vast corruption and destroying the possibility of democracy in Egypt.”
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“That Sisi feels it necessary to do this is a cautionary tale for Washington. How popular can this man be if he is afraid to let any serious opponent take him on? Logically, someone who is popular will be happy to have that demonstrated by a smashing electoral victory. Sisi is acting like someone who knows he has lost the support of the Egyptian people,” Abrams writes.
“And if he knows his popularity has disappeared, we in the United States should be equally aware--and that should inform American policy toward Sisi’s regime. We have tended to treat him like the popular leader who saved Egypt from the Muslim Brotherhood, because that's how many Egyptians saw him in 2013.
“But that's five years ago and it seems clear to Sisi that more and more Egyptians now regard him as just another general, intent on staying in power forever, repressing any criticism, presiding over vast corruption and destroying the possibility of democracy in Egypt.”
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