The US Should Back Democracy In Egypt No Matter What The Outcome

Tarek Masoud makes the case that Americans should back Egyptian democracy even if they don’t like the outcome:

let’s assume that Egypt is unreflectively anti-American and that the Husseins and Qandils and Sabahis of the world — or, gasp, the Muslim Brotherhood — fully represent the people camping in Tahrir Square. Should it matter? […]

We’ve never faced an Egypt that says no to us, and adjusting to one would no doubt be difficult and unpleasant. But it will also be necessary. Autocrats rule by stifling competition and distorting their countries’ political markets, and in politics as in economics, you meddle in the market at your own peril.

Read the whole thing.