Analysis: Democracy in Egypt appears to wane

SF Gate ^ | March 31, 2009 | PAUL SCHEMM

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Four years ago, the United States talked about two laboratories for democracy in the Middle East: Iraq and Egypt.

Egypt was supposed to be the easier one. But now it's battered Iraq that has shown democratic advances, while Egypt seems to be going backward with President Hosni Mubarak's government solidifying its hold on the levers of power.

Still, Egypt is hoping for improved ties with the United States under President Barack Obama after the Bush administration called for reform by Mubarak and after years of strains over the staunch U.S. ally's human rights record.

The Obama administration has already hinted it won't hinge its relationship with Egypt on human rights demands, moving away from former President George W. Bush's ambitious — or overreaching, as some in the region felt — claims to seek a democratic transformation in the region.

Egypt's ambassador to the U.S., Sameh Shukri, said last week that ties are on the mend and that Washington has dropped conditions for better relations, including demands for "human rights, democracy and religious and general freedoms."

"Conditionality" with Egypt "is not our policy," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with Egyptian TV earlier this month. "We also want to take our relationship to the next level."

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[Patrick1]

How can something that never existed, “wane”.