Romney wants Egypt and PA to work hard to receive aid

According to Mr Phares, President Barack Obama has not done enough to counter extremist forces in the Middle East. He said that long before Al Qaeda’s murder of the US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, it should have been obvious that jihadism was growing across the region.

“While still operational and on the rise in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Al Qaeda is spreading in Yemen, in Somalia, across the Sahel and has established an entity in northern Mali. Its allies, Boku Haram, are wreaking havoc in Nigeria.”

Mr Phares argued that Obama has disengaged from the push for freedom and democracy for the peoples of the region and instead sought to cut deals with dictatorships or to partner with radical movements and potential authoritarians rising out of the Arab Spring, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

In his Cairo speech in 2009, Mr Obama “neglected the role of seculars and reformers in civil societies, ignored the oppression of ethno-religious minorities and concentrated on partnering the Islamists”, said Mr Phares.
According to Mr Phares, there is general unwillingness on the government’s part to deal with jihadist ideology. “The public was made to believe that Osama Bin Laden created jihadism, while it is the other way around. The factory is the network of madrassas and jihadi indoctrination.”

Asked about Mr Romney’s controversial plan to arm the Syrian opposition, Mr Phares explained that the move would be “based on what Syria we want to see in the future, not on simply bringing down Assad”. Only players who were “ready to engage in a partnership based on common values and common interests” would, after a case-by-case study, be supported.