Cross-posted @ Interestofthestate.com

The political crisis  in Egypt is effecting politics in the Middle East in profound ways, all thanks to Tunisians, course.

Today, Jordan’s King Abdullah II dismissed his cabinet and even appointed a new prime minister. Protesters are testing Abdullah’s authority in the streets of Jordan, many of them supporters of various opposition parties.  In Yemen, protests continue to challenge dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh. Last month, Saleh was given authority by parliament to stay in power past his constitutional mandate. According to reports, protests are now spreading to rural areas in Yemen. Political instability also continues in Tunisia, where previously banned Islamists are returning from exile.

Delving into all the recent revolts in the Middle East, one has to wonder if Saudi Arabia is next? After all, the House of Saud has repressed Saudi citizens for the past one-hundred years. Despite all the “social welfare programs” the Saudi government offers its citizens, the literacy rate of the population is poor (one out of seven Saudis cannot read) and unemployment is as high as ten percent. As Egyptian citizens raise their voices against the forces of oppression, Saudi King dismissed the protesters and overtly expressed his support (more like love) for dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Most importantly, all of the countries that are in revolt are all allies of the United States. One cannot but wonder if this is a divine sign for our government. With many years of preaching Wilsonian democracy, many of our allies see our government as completely hypocritical. Obama’s practical silence and Biden’s overt support of Mubarak has left many Egyptians no choice but to accept the fact that our foreign policy is completely inconsistent with freedom. The world and mostly notably, the Egyptians, are not fools to know this. Our thirty year love affair with Mubarak’s tyrannical regime is in several ways not only un-American but regrettably immoral.  Preserving freedom for ourselves and restraining it for the world is completely against the Founders philosophy of liberty.  Middle Easterners aren’t asking for the destruction of Israel or declaring war on Western civilization; they are merely asking for is the end of US-backed tyrannies.

It’s truly embarrassing how our government continues to fail this moral test. Sadly – if our foreign policy continues to be this disastrous – we will not see an end to this.