For decades, the United States has been locked in a race to the bottom with political Islam. The Iranian revolution established the zero-sum nature of the conflict between US interests and the empowerment in the Middle East of political parties claiming divine sanction for their policies. Algeria in the last decade of the 20th century and Palestine today stand as examples of Washington’s enduring enmity toward those who in the name of Islam successfully contest the old order, even by popular, democratic demand.
The Egyptian revolution has shattered this model. Two years after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Washington is discovering that there just may be a way to live with political Islam.