Geopolitics is complicated, now as much as any time in history. The US has been doing "OK" with regard to Egypt lately but there's really no good way to handle

Geopolitics is complicated, now as much as any time in history. The US has been doing "OK" with regard to Egypt lately but there's really no good way to handle what's going on there. On the face of it Morsi was democratically elected but he also gave himself unlimited powers and was on his way to becoming just as much a tyrant as Mubarak ever was. He was deposed by a military coup which has its own problems and now Egypt is devolving into what seems to be an inevitable sectarian war (just as is happening in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Pakistan/Afghanistan). Calling the Egyptian army "backed by the US government" is a bit of a stretch. Prior to the coup the US shipped 12 F-16 fighters and millions in aid to Egypt under Morsi, since the coup the US has delayed further scheduled deliveries of F-16s and aid, largely as a protest for the harsh actions of the government against dissident groups. Nevertheless, there isn't exactly a good side to back in Egypt at present. It's not as though there's a nice, peaceful secular organization dedicated to democracy and individual liberty just quietly growing in the shadows. Instead there are a bunch of folks who want to seize power to further their own interests. Removing Qaddafi in Libya was almost certainly a good move though the followup there has been lacking. And the failure to engage in a meaningful way in the middle east in general has been frustrating. It's a hard problem, but sitting back and fucking around when there's serious shit going down isn't really the best alternative. The middle east is going to be hugely different over the next decade, but how much influence the US will have over that shape (to guide it away from islamic fundamentalism and totalitarianism specifically) is very much in doubt at present.