Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.
Obama's miscalculation arose from his misguided and naive comments in his Cairo speech.
Obama began his presidency with trips to Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and in speeches in Ankara and Cairo tried to forge new ties between the United States and the Muslim world. His message to Muslims was "I am one of you," and he backed it by quoting from the Koran.
His radical new orientation, in breaking with Bush's policies, was announced early on at Cairo (my brackets) [University].
Obama mistakenly believed that the main problem of the Middle East was the existence of Israel.
The absence of human rights issues from U.S. policy vis-a-vis Arab states drew muted, but harsh criticism.
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