ABSTRACT
The chapter suggests salient changes that Barack Obama's first administration introduced in United States foreign policy, and reviews the opposing arguments of his critics and supporters as discussed in journals, magazines, and newspapers in the first six months after Obama assumed power. While Obama praised the Egyptians for bravely revolting against oppression and injustice, his administration backed the ruling military council throughout the transitional period, which lasted until June 2012, thus effectively subverting the revolution. The chapter focuses on the Obama administration's policy on the Egyptian uprising and highlights the inconsistencies between its democracy-promoting words and status-quo-entrenching deeds. In promoting international cooperation, Obama also raised expectations of more American involvement in world affairs, which could not be carried out without overburdening the United States financially. In too many occasions after the revolution, US senior officials emphasized the United State's unshaking support for promoting democracy in Egypt, but Egyptians had heard this claim too many times before.
