Shades of Gray in Egypt through the US's eyes.

The ongoing unrest in Egypt brings numerous dirty truths about our foreign policy into the national discourse. Mubarak and his US backed three-decade reign of dictatorship are assuredly going to see its end days in the near future. No matter the outcome in Egypt, whoever steps forward and takes control of the new government our relationship with Egypt will not be the same. The new government almost certainly will not have the same American view toward foreign policy that the old regime held. The people of Egypt, if they get their wish will achieve a liberal democracy built upon their ideas and I would venture to say be reticent to reach out to the US for thoughts for their domestic agenda. The unknown’s possible outcomes will be many, one being how the US trained military in Egypt responds to the radical changes that the country will undergo. The military seems to have a strong connection with the populous and has repeatedly expressed no desire to harm anti-Mubarak protesters. Now the US has a dilemma, the policy of ignoring allies domestic policy in exchange for a puppet foreign policy is not ending well. Egypt is not the first and will not be the last country we are allies with too see its leadership threatened by a domestic protest. Lebanon, Yemen and the elephant in the room Saudi Arabia are going to see increased calls for liberalism (in its original meaning) from its own people. What does the US do, stand for liberalism even though it hurts our own interests or protect our interests at the cost of the idea of liberalism. The moral high ground of American Exceptionalism is now in focus. I’ve never been a ardent believer in the idea of American Exceptionalism as a quasi religion, as it is held in some circles, but the debate over the concept hinges on our response to each changing day in Egypt and its potential domino affect on the region.