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  "authors": [
    "Michele Dunne"
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    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
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Source: Getty

In The Media

Hosni Mubarak’s Legacy and the Roots of the Uprising in Egypt

The United States should not allow apprehensions about a democratic Egypt’s potential foreign policy to hinder its support for free and fair elections.

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By Michele Dunne
Published on Feb 4, 2011
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Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

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Source: PBS

As unrest continues in Egypt, the United States has the opportunity to play an important role in working to restore stability and ensuring that a transition to democracy begins to take place, said Michele Dunne on PBS' Need to Know. She said that the United States should encourage the Egyptian military to be the arbiter of stability and not allow thuggish elements of the Mubarak regime to foment violence.

Dunne noted that the situation in Egypt has been tenuous for the last several years. The current uprising has its roots in Egyptian President Mubarak’s refusal to enact reforms. “The longer he has stayed in office, the worse human rights abuses have gotten and the more the country has stagnated,” Dunne said. She argued that the United States cannot allow apprehensions about a democratic Egypt’s potential foreign policy to hinder its support for free and fair elections. 

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

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Michele Dunne
Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
Michele Dunne
Political ReformForeign PolicyNorth AfricaEgypt

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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