The world is burning…or at least Egypt is.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the past couple of weeks, you would have realized by now that there is something rotten in the region of the Middle East. Throughout the streets of Egyptian cities, most notably in the capital city of Cairo, Protesters have been demonstrating against the current Egyptian government headed by President Hosni Mubarak. For a slew of reasons including a sinking economy marked by joblessness and high inflation and allegations of human rights violations, Egyptians have been unsatisfied with their current regime and have called for immediate change.

While many Americans may have sympathy for the trials and tribulations of these people, the affairs of Egyptians across the ocean don’t really mean much. Why or how does what’s going on in Egypt affect us?

While it’s true that Egypt hasn’t been gracing our front pages like other big-name nations over the past couple of years, the affairs of Egypt and its strategic location in the Middle East have been crucial to the formation of America’s foreign policy over the past decade.

For years, the country has proved to be a critical ally to the United States. Rising to power after the assassination of Anwar El Sadat in 1981, President Mubarak aligned himself with the policies put forth by the U.S. government in exchange for military aid throughout the years.

As a result of this agreement between Egypt and the United States, the U.S. has had a foothold in the Middle East. In the ever-growing “War on Terror,” Egypt has been a nation the U.S. could depend on; beyond any doubt, much valuable information has been obtained from terror suspects by the questionable interrogation tactics of Mubarak’s regime.

With Egyptians’ call for Mubarak’s immediate departure from office, however, the relationship that had been forged between the United States and Egypt has been put in jeopardy. While it’s clear that Mubarak is on his way out the door, the future of the Egypt-America alliance is cloudy at best.

As a citizen of a country that had been formed from the same type of grass-roots protestation (that eventually evolved into organized military action), it is hard not to both appreciate and sympathize with the effort of the Egyptian people.

They have been, for the past 30 years, more or less oppressed, and have clearly demonstrated that they have had enough. Citizens of all ages have forged the common bond that they want a better Egypt for them and their children. It is, to say the least admirable. As a result of their strong demonstrations, they’ve proved that their voice is one that needs to be heard and respected. They have, beyond any doubt, demonstrated that their future is in their hands. For the future of American foreign affairs, however, this cannot be a comforting thought.

For its part, Egypt is home to a population that is, for the most part, Muslim. With the silently growing presence of terror power house Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, it’s feared that the people of Egypt may be susceptible to the influence of an Islamic fundamentalist regime that would not be kind to the United States.

If Egypt falls to the hands of a terrorist group the likes of Al-Qaeda, there is no telling how other nations in the Middle East would react. It may have an impact on the way Saudi Arabians view their relationship with America as well, a relationship which has been mainly predicated on the Saudi’s strategic location and the acquisition of their major natural resource, oil.

For America, the current situation in Egypt brings back memories of the Iran debacle in the 1970s, in which the United States ignorance of certain issues led to the expulsion of a U.S.-friendly government in favor of a regime led by Islamic fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeni.

Whether or not the same type of shift will happen in Egypt remains to be seen.

To contact The Ionian’s Ryan Karpusiewicz, e-mail him at [email protected].