The United States’ consistent aid to Egypt since the 1970s has failed to reap any success in terms of creating a democratic society, and this limit of American power in the Middle East is not lost on President Donald Trump, Steven A. Cook says in a piece for Politico. For all his other missteps, The Donald seems to grasp the fact that efforts from previous US governments to “civilize” the region by promoting openness and democracy have all but failed, and that it is wiser for him to focus his Middle East policy on Washington’s core interests in the region.

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