These powers are playing their own tunes. From time to time they grab the baton. Washington’s reluctance to call a coup a coup was explained by its concern to retain leverage by avoiding an automatic halt in US military aid. In Britain’s case, the government felt obliged to bow to pressure from the Saudis and Emiratis, who also happen to be bankrolling the new regime in Cairo. Mr Obama’s much-trumpeted “pivot” to Asia was intended as a carefully calibrated shift away from the Middle East. As things have turned out, the Arab world has run well ahead of the White House in anticipating events. Unsurprisingly, Arabs have concluded that if the US is getting out, they had better get on with fighting their own corners.
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