EGYPT: What Is the US Fixation with Dictators???

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/fred-cederholm/34033/egypt-what-is-the-us-fixation-with-dictators

I’ve been thinking about Egypt. Actually I’ve been thinking about our world, King Tut, Ptolomy, Cleopatra, the riots, dictators, oil routes, the Middle East, and disruptions. Our world is in a very fragile state right now. Economic and financial dislocations and systemic economic and financial failures are rampant worldwide. There are too many “crises” to almost even list. But, how will each of these impact us in our little corner of the world? Should we even have concerns as the list of dilemmas increases weekly? We seem to be able to do nothing, or accomplish nothing, yet we still manage to get our finger in every pie.

You see last week saw a major blow up of yet another country run amok. Egypt is halfway around the world from US/ us. We maybe know they had some notable rulers a couple of thousand years ago who built several of the wonders of the ancient world. There maybe recollections of King Tut, Cleopatra (who was actually a Greek), Ptolomy, and Ramses. Most of us TH*NK about Moses and the old testament stories about “the Land of Egypt” when we hear a reference to Egypt. Many of us may know the Nile flows thru it (somewhere) and that it is home to the pyramids and the Sphinx.

Do these tidbits and errata justify the huge amount of NEWs coverage and hand wringing in Washington, DC that we have seen in the past week? No, but there is a lot more to consider here… Egypt’s place in history has changed in the Twenty-First Century. Egypt may have NO oil per se, but it is part of the energy mix.

The Egyptian events of last week come closely on the heels of the rioting leading to actual (and potential) governmental overthrows in Tunisia and Algeria on the coast of North Africa; there are also now rumblings in Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. Who will be next? Can we as a nation who depends on foreign locations for TWO-THIRDS of our energy needs afford any shutdowns of the Middle Eastern hub? True, we get significant oil and gas from Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela, but the Saudis have been our THIRD largest supplier of crude and distillates for well over TWO years now. Over half of the world’s energy resources lay in the ground of the Middle East.

More at the link --

[SharonAnn]

1. They can control their economy and their country's policies. Democracies are less predictable.

Think of those countries who were close allies of the United States before our 2000 election. Some of them distanced themselves from the policies of the administration that was in charge here from 2000 - 2008.

Our policies can change with each administration and Congress and our economic ties can change also.

So, unfortunately, dictators have more control over their countries. At least for a while.