Mısır’daki Temmuz 2013 askeri müdahalesine yönelik Amerikan söylemi ve AB politikasının bir analizi

Year 2021, Volume: 24 Issue: 46, 1093 - 1106, 31.12.2021

Abdurrahman Gümüş

https://doi.org/10.31795/baunsobed.885063

Abstract

Arap İsyanları, Mısır’daki Temmuz 2013 askeri müdahalesiyle bölgesel anlamda durma noktasına geldi. Askeri müdahale küresel aktörler için de onların demokrasi ve insan hakları gibi prensiplere ve normlara bağlılık düzeyi açısından bir meydan okuma teşkil etti. Bu makale, söylem analizi yönetimini kullanarak Mısır’daki askeri müdahaleye yönelik Amerikan söylemini analiz etmektedir. Söylem analizi, söylem ve bağlam arasındaki karşılıklı ve dönüşlü ilişkiye odaklanır, bu nedenle kaotik Mısır bağlamı, Amerikan dış politikası için iyi bir test niteliği taşımaktadır. Buna ek olarak, Arap İsyanları sürecindeki AB politikasından, AB’nin normatif karakteri nedeniyle ABD için bir karşılaştırma noktası olarak söz edilecektir. Söylem düzeyinde demokratik değerlere ve normlara verilen desteğe rağmen Amerikan dış politikası Mısır ve Mısır ordusuyla ortak çıkarlara dayalı uzun süreli ittifakı öncelemiştir. Askeri müdahalenin resmen “darbe” olarak isimlendirilmesinin siyasi sonuçlarının yanında Mısır ordusuna yapılan yardımın kesilmesi gibi hukuki sonuçları olacaktı. Uzun süreli ittifakın yanı sıra darbenin hukuki sonuçları, ABD’nin pozisyonunun Avrupalı ve bölgesel aktörler üzerindeki muhtemel etkileri ve ABD’nin güvenilir bir müttefik olma özelliğini koruma ihtiyacı gibi nedenler, ABD’yi temkinli bir söylem ve çıkar merkezli bir politikaya yöneltti. ABD’nin demokratik düzene dönülmesi yönündeki çağrısı, Mısır’daki askeri müdahalenin sonuçlarını kabul etmekle beraber demokrasi teşviki (promosyonu) söyleminin devam ettirileceği anlamına geliyordu. Diğer taraftan, Arap İsyanları sürecindeki AB politikaları da söylem ve eylem arasındaki bir boşluğu yansıtıyordu ve AB’nin normatif gücünü öne çıkarmasını sağlayacak bir başka fırsatın daha kaçırılmasıyla sonuçlandı. Sonuç olarak, Mısır’daki askeri müdahale Batılı aktörlerin normlar ve prensipler yerine çıkarlarını öncelediğini doğrulamış oldu.

Keywords

Söylem, Askeri Müdahale, Mısır, AB Politikası, Demokrasi

An analysis of the US discourse and EU policy towards the July 2013 military intervention in Egypt

Abstract

The Arab Uprisings in the regional sense came to a halt with the July 2013 military intervention in Egypt. The military intervention constituted a challenge for the global actors in terms of the level of their commitment to the principles and norms such as democracy and human rights. This article analyzes the US discourse towards the military intervention in Egypt by using the method of discourse analysis. Discourse analysis focuses on the reflexive relationship between discourse and context. Thus, the chaotic Egyptian context offers a good test for the US foreign policy. Furthermore, the EU policy during the Arab Uprisings will be addressed as a point of comparison for the US due to its normative character. Despite the support for democratic values and norms at the discursive level, the US foreign policy prioritized the longstanding alliance with Egypt and the Egyptian military based on shared interests. Naming the military intervention as a “coup” would lead to both political and legal consequences like cutting off the aid to the Egyptian military. In addition to the longstanding alliance, the legal consequences of a coup, possible effects of the US position on the European and regional actors as well as the need for keeping its reputation as a reliable ally contributed to cautious discourse and interest-based policy of the US. The US call for returning to a democratic order meant the acceptance of the results of the military intervention in Egypt and the maintenance of the discourse of “democracy promotion”. On the other hand, the EU policies during the Arab Uprisings also reflected a gap between rhetoric and practice, and they ended in another missed opportunity for asserting its normative power. As a result, the military intervention in Egypt confirmed the primacy of interests rather than norms and principles for the Western actors.

Keywords

Discourse, Military Intervention, Egypt, EU Policy, Democracy

References

• Alexander, H. (2013, July 4). World reaction to Egypt coup. The Telegraph. Retrieved on 21 May 2018, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/10159658/World-reaction-to-Egypt-coup.html
• Aziz, S. (2013, July 31). US foreign aid and Morsi’s ouster. Middle East Institute. Retrieved on 12 February 2020, from http://www.mei.edu/content/us-foreign-aid-and-morsis-ouster
• Baker, P. (2013, July 4). A coup? Or something else? $1.5 billion in US aid is on the line. The New York Times. Retrieved on 12 February 2020, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/world/middleeast/egypts-arrests-of-islamists-pose-test-to-us-over-military-aid.html
• Bax, S. (2011). Discourse and genre: Analysing language in context. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bouchet, N. (2016, September 6). Long game, hard choices: The Obama administration and democracy in Egypt. E-International Relations. Retrieved on 18 April 2019, from http://www.e-ir.info/2016/09/06/long-game-hard-choices-the-obama-administration-and-democracy-in-egypt/
• Catherine Ashton EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission remarks on Egypt and Tunisia. (2011, February 2). Retrieved on 10 May 2020, from https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_11_66.
• Cole, J. R. I. (2013). US Middle East policy in Obama’s second term. The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 99, 1-21.
• Collins, V. E. & Rothe, D. L. (2012). United States support for global social justice? Foreign intervention and Realpolitik in Egypt’s Arab Spring. Social Justice, 39(4), 1-20.
• Cox, M. (2013). Fighting for freedom: Promoting democracy the American Way. Harvard International Review, 34(4), 36-39.
• Garcia, D. & Gluesing, J. C. (2013). Qualitative research methods in international organizational change research. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 26(2), 423-444.
• Gee, J. P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis. London: Routledge.
• Ghilés, F. (2012). A new deal for Arab people. Insight Turkey, 14(1), 13-27. Greenwald, G. (2014, October 2). After feigning love for Egyptian democracy, US back to openly supporting tyranny. The Intercept. Retrieved on 15 January 2020, from https://theintercept.com/2014/10/02/feigned-american-support-egyptian-democracy-lasted-roughly-six-weeks/
• Hamid, S. (2015, October 9). Islamism, the Arab Spring, and the failure of America’s do-nothing policy in the Middle East. The Atlantic. Retrieved on 10 August 2019, from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/middle-east-egypt-us-policy/409537/
• Johnstone, B. (2002). Discourse analysis. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Karacasulu, N. & Karakır, I. A. (2014). EU-Turkey relations in the context of the Middle East after the Arab Spring. Insight Turkey, 16(4), 201-219.
• Karakir, I. A. (2014). Limits of EU democracy promotion in the Arab Middle East: The cases of Egypt and Morocco. Uluslararası Hukuk ve Politika, 10(38), 33-67.
• Kivimaki, T. (2013). The United States and the Arab Spring. Journal of Human Security, 9(1), 15-26.
• Metawe, M. (2013). How and why the West reacted to the Arab Spring: An Arab perspective. Insight Turkey, 15(3), 141-155.
• Miller, Z. J. (2013, July 3). Apparent Egyptian military coup puts Obama in bind on military aid. Time. Retrieved on 12 February 2020, from http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/03/apparent-egyptian-military-coup-puts-obama-in-bind-on-military-aid/
• Monshipouri, M. & Assareh, A. (2011). The new Middle East and the United States: What to expect after the Uprisings? Insight Turkey, 13(3), 121-138.
• Nau, H. R. (2010, April 1). Obama’s foreign policy. Hoover Institution, 160, 27-47.
• Nuruzzaman, M. (2015). President Obama’s Middle East policy, 2009-2013. Insight Turkey, 17(1), 171-190.
• Perez de las Heras, B. (2015). EU and US external policies on human rights and democracy promotion: Assessing political conditionality in Transatlantic Partnership. Romanian Journal of European Affairs, 15(2), 80-96.
• Phillips, J. (2013, August 23). Egypt’s coup requires a cautious US response. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved on 15 January 2020, from http://www.heritage.org/middle-east/report/egypts-coup-requires-cautious-us-response
• Pierce, A. R. (2014). US “partnership” with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its effect on civil society and human rights. Society, 51(1), 68-86.
• Pinto, M. C. (2012). Mapping the Obama administration’s response to the Arab Spring. Revista Brasileira de Politica Internacional, 55(2), 109-130.
• Ramadan, T. (2012). The future of political Islam in the Arab World. The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 93, 1-25.
• Ratka, E. (2012). Germany and the Arab Spring-foreign policy between new activism and old habits. German Politics and Society, 30(2), 59-74.
• Reuters, T. (2013, July 4). Why the US doesn’t call Egypt military’s ouster of Morsi a coup. CBC News. Retrieved on 14 February 2020, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/why-the-u-s-doesn-t-call-egypt-military-s-ouster-of-morsi-a-coup-1.1347857
• Roberts, D. (2013, July 3). US in bind over Egypt after supporting Morsi but encouraging protestors. The Guardian. Retrieved on 8 July 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/egypt-obama-us-mohamed-morsi-crisis
• Rouet, G. (2014). Turbulences, European Neighbourhood Policy and European identity. Politické Vedy, 17(2), 9-27.
• Schumacher, T. (2011). The EU and the Arab Spring: Between spectatorship and actorness. Insight Turkey, 13(3), 107-119.
• Sharp, J. M. (2014). Egypt: Background and US relations. Current Politics and Economics of Africa, 7(1), 47-94.
• The EU’s response to the “Arab Spring”. (16 December 2011). Retrieved on 9 June 2020, from https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_11_918
• Turner, J. (2012). Untangling Islamism from Jihadism: Opportunities for Islam and the West after the Arab Spring. Arab Studies Quarterly, 34(3), 173-188.
• US must suspend aid after Egypt’s coup. (4 July 2013). The Washington Post. Retrieved on 10 March 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-must-suspend-aid-after-egypts-coup/2013/07/04/cd53f248-e4a8-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html?utm_term=.300397072f76
• White House. (2009, June 4). Remarks by the President at Cairo University. Retrieved on 12 March 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-pressoffice/remarks-president-cairo-university-6-04-09
• White House. (2011, January 14). Statement by the President on events in Tunisia. Retrieved 12 March 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/14/statement-president-events-tunisia
• White House. (2011, February 10). Statement by President Barack Obama on Egypt. Retrieved 12 March 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press- office/2011/02/10/statement-president-barack-obama-egypt
• White House. (2011, February 11). Remarks by the President on Egypt. Retrieved 12 March 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/11/remarks-president-egypt
• White House. (2013, July 3). Statement by President Barack Obama on Egypt. Retrieved on 12 March 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/03/statement-president-barack-obama-egypt
• Wollack, K. (2010). Assisting democracy abroad: American values, American interests. Harvard International Review, 32(3), 20-25. Wood, L. A. & Kroger, R. O. (2000). Doing discourse analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
• World leaders voice concern, optimism over Egyptian coup. (2013, July 4). Deutsche Welle. Retrieved on 21 February 2019, from https://www.dw.com/en/world-leaders-voice-concern-optimism-over-egyptian-coup/a-16928311
• Wouters, J. & Duquet, S. (2013). The Arab Uprisings and the European Union: In search of a comprehensive strategy. Yearbook of European Law, 32(1), 230-265.