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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.

published by
PBS
 on February 4, 2011

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. 

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