It is appalling to watch the political turmoil in Egypt and the bloody conflict in Syria — which has reportedly cost the lives of some 40,000 people — two leading pillars in the Arab world where hesitant steps are being taken towards much-needed democracy, and the elimination of one-party rule or autocratic regimes.
 
Whether they succeed in the near future, as many are hoping here and there, may depend on other neighbouring Arab governments and even some influential world leaders, possibly at a price.
 
Several Arab states, particularly Egypt and Syria, as well as the Palestinian Authority, are in urgent need of financial assistance, mostly in the hands of the United States and a few European powers.
 
Some Arab states, like oil-rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have promised to help the Palestinians, who are virtually bankrupt, in part due to the Israeli occupation and the US threats that they may curtail financial assistance since the recent admission of Palestine as a non-member observer state to the United Nations.
 
Israel went a step further, stopping the transfer of taxes and customs duties it collected on behalf of Palestinians.
 
Egypt, at present in a very tight financial spot, is hoping to get US assistance to the tune of $450 million, part of a $1 billion assistance programme, as soon as possible. But the murky political situation in Egypt is posing a major hurdle to some critics in the US Congress.
 
The Washington Post reported last Tuesday that the risks involved in heading off a destabilising economic collapse has been on “sharp display in Egypt in the clashes between protesters and forces loyal to President Mohamed Morsi, whose Islamist government must be trusted by the United States, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and others to deliver on commitments made in return for international support”.
 
The paper added that Egypt’s potential creditors “say the situation has left them with a difficult choice: take a chance on Morsi, or leave the country with a lifeline and surrender the ability to influence his direction”.
 
What has raised many an eyebrow since it made matters worse for the struggling Egyptian president is his postponement of the $4.8 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund. This step is bound to shake international confidence in the Egyptian leader.
 
Another blow has come from most of Egypt’s judges who just rejected overseeing the country’s constitutional referendum on Sunday, adding serious doubt on the disputed charter.
 
A surprise remark came from President Barack Obama in a press interview that the US has now recognised the newly formed coalition of the Syrian opposition groups, known as the Syrian opposition coalition. This is a step that will undoubtedly rattle the ground in the strife-torn country and its resilient leader Bashar Assad.
 
Although the step may give new international legitimacy to the uprising in Syria, it is doubtful it would mean that the US administration is now willing to arm the opposition, since Obama has repeatedly refused to do so.
 
“We’ve made a decision that the Syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population, that we consider them he legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime,” Obama told ABC news in an exclusive interview.
 
But this surprise step does not necessarily mean that the opposition will come to power in the country soon, since the strategic location of Syria in the Middle East poses a serious imbalance to the forces current at play there.
 
It, however, may lend more substance to the unconfirmed report that Obama’s foreign policy adviser, Samantha Power, told a delegation that the US president will be heading for Israel and another country in the region that has not yet been identified.
 
One country that is understood to be ill at ease about the bloody turmoil in Syria is Israel, which had had a quiet border with the Damascus regime.
 
The question remains, which is the second country: Turkey or Egypt?