Egypt will not back to the way it was before protests disrupted the country, President Obama said tonight in a pre-Super Bowl interview. Speaking to Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, the President would not say when Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak would step down.
As political unrest in Egypt unfolds, C-SPAN has covered numerous briefings with President Obama and other U.S. officials, as well as panel discussions with Middle Eastern experts reacting to the situation. In other international events, officials have also given updates on military operations in Iraq and Pakistan.
Egypt:
Two former ambassadors gave their assessment of the conflicts in Egypt and Tunisia, discussing the various parties vying for power in both countries, the implication for the broader Middle East, and the role Western government can play.
NBC Meet the Press host David Gregory moderated a panel of foreign policy & national security experts as they discussed the unrest in Egypt and how it’s playing out in the Arab world in an event at the Brookings Institution.
The Carnegie Endowment for Int’l Peace & the Project on Middle East Democracy hosted an Egyptian historian and a former State Department official as they examined the various internal elements in the country, such as the political parties, President Hosni Mubarak, and the history of human rights.
Bob Schieffer of CBS News moderated a discussion with journalists from Al Jazeera and McClathcy Newspapers on the political unrest in Egypt in an event hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s executive director called Egypt’s military the key to resolving the deteriorating situation during an event hosted by the group. Other participants speculated on some of the possible future scenarios to take place in the country.
Iraq:
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the U.S. policy transition from a military-led mission to a civilian mission in Iraq. The hearing explored how the State Department plans to handle the next year and how it will affect U.S. goals in the region.
Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw testified before the British Iraq Inquiry for a third time, covering the details on the lead- up to the war. He shared his reservations about President Bush’s “axis of evil” comments from the 2002 State of the Union speech, and conversations with then- Prime Minister Tony Blair on the legality of invading Iraq.
Pakistan:
The U.S. Institute of Peace and the Brookings Institution hosted a conference on the future and Pakistan and U.S. policy towards the country. Speakers included former U.S. Ambassadors to Pakistan as well as Southeast Asia scholars.