Anti-American fervor in the Arab world has been linked above all to US relations with Israel, but also to cooperative relations with their authoritarian regimes. Post 9/11, US foreign policy has always considered Islamist parties a troublesome category of political participants, one that needs special treatment, or even one that needs to be shunned, as was done under Mubarak’s rule. The US support for these regimes was on the grounds that should democracy be granted, Islamists would only support it to get into government and then abandon the democratic ideals. Moreover, Islamists have always harbored very strong anti-Israel feelings. Now that they have been democratically elected, America can do nothing but support this political transition. However, even while the US closely backed the dictators for years, it also supported the movements trying to get them out of office.

Initially, it might have been taken for granted that the ‘Arab Spring’ and the regime change it brought about would have hindered American interests in the affected countries. But those predictions have proved inaccurate. The Obama administration has not adopted a clear strategy for pursuing the American interests in the region. It has however made clear that foreign aid will not be excluded to Islamist governments across the region. Though the state of the US economy might not allow the spending, it cannot cut the budget on foreign aid to these countries, as this would gain the US a reputation of only supporting the ousted regimes.

To say that democracy has arrived to these countries is naïve. Countries such as Egypt and Tunisia are only still learning about a long and largely transformative process. In the meantime, state consolidation is very weak, leaving more room for outside influence or intervention. At the same time, proving to be supportive of newly found governments could grant the US more leverage in the region, and a better stand with respect to the Islamists. It is no surprise that the former US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has visited the region with efforts of maintaining ties with countries despite their regime change.

This does not mean that Arab anti-Americanism is waning. Skepticism of American intentions is perhaps even stronger now because the US has shown it will do anything to secure its interests. Democracy will not replace other interests such as security and oil. Moreover, its relations with Israel will always affect its popularity. In an article written for the Washington Post, a former US Secretary of State mentioned that this new policy could be thought of as a way to make up for previous support of authoritarianism. Will this be successful, considering new parties in power will have to show the people that they will not be as easy clients of the US as their predecessors?