The case of the Italian researcher killed in Egypt and Western condescension towards the Arab regimes

The tragic murder of the Italian researcher in Egypt should compel interested to do many considerations in relationships that Western nations were entertained with guided by authoritarian regimes, considerations both moral, and political. The scandal raised, rightly, in Italy for the death of an Italian citizen, took place so barbaric and violent is very strong, but it does not seem to be accompanied, and now it, especially before, by similar ratings for the episodes involving local dissidents, of which often it is not even found the body. The Egyptian case is an example of a utilitarian attitude taken by Western governments after the Arab spring have failed and who have taken over the most extreme tendencies of Islamist movements. The arrival in power through regular elections, the political parties not used by personnel trained to operate in democratic and deeply affected conditions, even from a political visit, be sure to be a religiosity intrusive, has created a situation where the failure to respect democratic rules was the norm, there was not, that is, the necessary respect for minorities, which was claimed to subject, in essence, the Islamic law. Of course that it was not shared by a large part of Egyptian society, including the military, who have always held the monopoly of force and was not also approved by the Western powers, rightly concerned about the rampant radicalism. The solution was to have fostered the rise of an authoritarian military regime instead of an authoritarian religious, this was functional to Western interests, but not to the development of democracy in a nation, considered to be a guide in the Arab world, as Egypt. The West, as he had misjudged in a totally positive way the Arab Spring, considering that possible developments, conditioned by the absence of specific references about the functioning of democracy, has underestimated the ways in which the military regime would exercise own power, which in fact, usurped. The recourse to repression in total so the military junta led by Al-Sisi, would arouse disdain and large protests in Western governments, including through a strong diplomatic pressure, capable of imposing sanctions and restrict military supplies, through which the procedure It keeps alive. It had to be particularly significant that the targets of violent repression were not only the religious fanatics, but also secular parties, the only ones who could ensure a democratic transition in the country and, therefore, equally dangerous, as the Islamic fundamentalists, for military regime. The result was that Egypt is in a state of repression and authoritarian probably greater than that suffered by Mubarak, and has, therefore, worsened their situation. The case of the Italian researcher is a particular issue because the victim is a foreigner, but representatives of human rights organizations denounce as normal the use of violence against domestic opponents, through the use of torture and murder usual. Subject to these considerations, the question that Western governments should be asked is whether it is still permissible to have normal diplomatic relations or even bonds of alliance with strongly contrasting governments with democratic rules. The question, of course, not only for Egypt, but also the states of the Gulf, with Saudi Arabia before the other, Turkey and others. Outside of a purely instrumental logic to Western interests, framed in a unique system of real politik, the contradiction is more than evident. If you can not overcome all these impediments, if they exist in the thoughts of those who govern, efforts should be made to an attenuation of the restriction of the rights, step to spot as a starting point for a broader discussion. The problem is that you do not identify, global, long-term objectives but Western foreign policy lies in the most comfortable way to achieve immediate results modest, in a vision closer to that economic than political. The belief that Egypt is a dam against fundamentalism has passed over in silence, brutality and violence are incompatible with democratic ideals that should be the basis of Western governments; However, in the specific case of the Italian researcher, the government of Rome, has not completed the necessary steps to protect its own sovereignty violated by atrocities exerted against one of its nationals. The low-profile Italian chosen by the executive is in line with a diplomatic behavior that does not want to upset the established relationships, but that, above all in the long run, is a weakness for the authority of a nation; do not take the necessary disciplinary countermeasures towards the Egyptian regime, would represent not only a step but had obliged to protect Italians interests and not lend itself to be complicit with a regime that made use of the almost exclusive tool violence through which regulates the political opposition. You must send strong signals to these states, using the proximity with the West as a means of convenience to appear what they are not, they mirror themselves as democratic governments, worthy to stand in the international community. Egypt and elsewhere, deserve exemplary sanctions for their behavior, starting with the dismissal of their diplomats, to incur economic sanctions. Until then the West will be complicit in the brutality and violence with which these regimes suppress all dissent.