Dispatch from Cairo: The wait-and-see approach is the only approach

President Obama doesn't have many fans in the Arab world, but that doesn't mean he should respond to issues in Egypt and beyond with muscle

Anti-Mursi activists protest in Cairo on March 26.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih)

CAIRO — The Middle East is experiencing a truly historic and dangerous moment. The tide of revolution, which started in Tunisia and swept across the Arab world, may have peaked, but the dust has by no means settled.

In the midst of this uncertainty, America — which has historically been keen on meddling in the Middle East — has by and large stayed out of the fray. As Islamist governments are coming to power in new democracies and uncertainty prevails, the Obama administration has come under fire — from political rivals and leaders in the Middle East — for its cautiousness. But those protestations shouldn't necessarily be cause for concern. After generations of a muscular, and unpopular, American presence in the Middle East, Obama's wait-and-see approach might be just what the doctor ordered.

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Jake Lippincott earned a degree in Middle Eastern Studies at Hampshire College. He worked in Tunis during the popular uprising there, and is now based in Cairo.