Pursuing Ideals or Protecting Interests in Egypt?

With the Muslim Brotherhood sidelined for the time being and the military once again firmly in charge, the Egyptian political landscape has settled into a three-way stalemate between the Islamists, secular liberals, and old-guard elites. Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, former ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, and Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland discuss with CFR President Richard N. Haass what the goals of U.S. foreign policy should be, how much influence the United States still has, and whether idealism and realism are at odds in policymaking toward Egypt.

This meeting is part of the "What to Do About" series, which highlights specific issues and features experts who put forward competing analyses and policy prescriptions in a mock high-level U.S. government meeting.

Speakers:
Thomas Carothers, Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Coauthor, "Development Aid Confronts Politics: The Almost Revolution"
Daniel C. Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University; Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel; Coauthor, "The Peace Puzzle: America's Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, 1989-2011"
Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, University of Maryland, College Park; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Author, "The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East"

Presider:
Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations

[JiHottist]

This is exactly what Egypt needs! Old White men sitting in comfort somehow troubled by events across the world...Leave Egypt alone.