Source: Al Jazeera's Riz Khan

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s visit to Washington suggests a renewed cooperation between the two allies after years of strained relations during the Bush administration. This has stoked fear among human rights activists that the Obama administration will turn a blind eye to Egypt’s repressive domestic political situation. Michele Dunne argues, “The U.S. needs to take a stand in favor of democracy and human rights in Egypt. If the U.S. fails to do so it will hurt its own image and present itself as acting in an unprincipled and self-interested way.” Nonetheless, Dunne continues, “the U.S. is a superpower with a multiplicity of interests. The danger is not that human rights and democratization will overtake the agenda, but that they will fall off it.”

Ultimately, the U.S. must balance its advocacy for human rights and democracy promotion with other strategic interests; it would be wrongheaded to completely cut off ties with authoritarian regimes.

While the Arab-Israeli peace process was on the agenda for President Obama and Mubarak, “Mubarak didn’t offer anything new that other Arab leaders had not already said.” In this regard, noted Dunne, “the Obama administration was probably disappointed with the visit.”