Foreign Policy Happens

The editors of the Washington Post are chagrined at the Biden Administration’s dealings with Egypt:

Once again, the Sissi regime, the most repressive in Egypt’s modern history, is attempting to punish and silence its critics in the United States, in clear defiance of President Biden.

The new administration’s response? On Tuesday, the State Department approved a $197 million sale of naval surface-to-air missiles to the Sissi regime. Spokesman Ned Price described the transfer as “a routine replenishment of defensive weapons.” In other words, if not a blank check, then business as usual with a government that pays for its U.S. weapons with $1.3 billion in annual U.S. aid — one of the largest subsidies to a foreign nation.

The editors want the administration to clear their policies with the Egypt Human Rights Caucus. One doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

As I’ve said before the ability of presidents to direct foreign policy is severely limited. The continuity in our foreign policy is no accident. The president’s leeway is curtailed by the State Department, the Congress, politics, and, most importantly, by events.