He has always been criticized about human rights abuses and nepotism, but in the eyes of Western governments, he has always been an “acceptable” head of state because of his regime's military-secular characteristics. In addition, thanks to his efforts of brokering a peace between Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania in the context of the Western Sahara issue, Mubarak has also had the opportunity to present himself as a mediator in regional conflicts. He has managed to bring his country back to the Arab League; he used his mediation skills between Israel, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other Arab countries after the Gulf War and thus pursued Egypt's role as one of the central players in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.Under the George W. Bush administration, US-Egypt relations ran into turbulence. The Egyptian people, who thought that the US intended to occupy all Muslim countries one after another, disliked Mubarak's pro-American stance. Because of the amount of popular pressure, Mubarak had to adjust his policy, and he started to emphasize his dissatisfaction with American policies. As a response, the Bush administration started to blame Mubarak for Egypt's human rights problems and even threatened him with the cancellation of the annual $1.5 billion in aid. However, the US didn't go too far in its criticism, taking into account Egypt's importance in Arab-Israeli relations.
In contrast, the Obama administration chose to address the Muslim world from Cairo, consolidating Egypt's crucial role, strategic importance and its weight in diplomatic equations. Now, in order to show his gratitude, Mubarak is visiting Washington to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the relations of Israel with other Arab countries and Egypt's human rights problems. He has affirmed that he is ready to play his part in order to promote good relations between Arab countries and Israel. Concerning the comprehensive peace accord for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, former President Jimmy Carter, former Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State James Baker, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski have recently submitted a report. These outstanding personalities argue that Israel should return to its 1967 borders, an independent Palestinian state should be non-militarized, important compensations should be paid to Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem must become the joint capital of both Israel and Palestine. It is also asked of Israel to stop expanding its settlements. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated enough as it is, but now there is also a supplementary problem: nobody's sure with whom to negotiate on the Palestinian side.
There is also a new situation: It's now expected that a country that intends to be able to broker peace should “deserve” mediator status. In other words, the mediator must have clean hands, because, nowadays, finding a lasting solution between two states or two peoples does not consist of simply signing a document, negotiated by the usual diplomatic means dictated by inter-state relations. It's also important how these states or peoples are governed. For example, if the mediator proposes democratization to the parties as part of the peace resolution, its own democratic record should be credible. If, in the wake of his visit to the US, Mubarak initiates some kind of change in his country, symbolizing the beginning of a new era, Egypt will be able to contribute to the peace process. If not, it will be left behind.
