Was it just "repackaged rhetoric" or did it signal a genuine commitment by Washington to align its interests with the drive for democracy in the Arab world?
The US president Barack Obama's speech embracing the uprisings sweeping the Middle East drew a mixed response across the region yesterday, and scepticism mostly outweighed support.
By trying to appeal to everyone, Mr Obama has disappointed everyone, one analyst said.
The US president pledged to oppose violent repression, and to uphold universal rights, including free speech, freedom of assembly and of religion.
But many Arabs said they would wait to see if his stirring declaration that "tyrants will fall" is followed by concrete action.
His soaring words mostly failed to overcome widespread disillusionment stemming from a similar keynote speech in Cairo two years ago when he also voiced support for democratic change and to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue. He delivered on neither front.
Moreover, he was slow to respond to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, where recently ousted autocratic leaders were longtime US allies.
The Arab Spring, now in its sixth month, has also failed to bring change in Yemen, Bahrain, Syria or Libya. For many in the Middle East, the US has been merely a spectator of the home-grown uprisings.
"Obama gave a speech? Really? As if I care," an Egyptian activist, Hossam el Hamalawy, wrote on Twitter.
Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University, said: "We have heard a lot of beautiful speeches before and we don't know if he can deliver this time."
In his widely read column yesterday, Abdelbari Atwan, the editor of the London-based pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi, wrote that US support for the Middle East revolutions was strictly confined to Arab republics while he studiously avoided mention of the Gulf monarchies. Mr Obama's speech was "repackaged rhetoric", Mr Atwan wrote.
Even so, there was surprise that Mr Obama publicly rebuked Bahrain, a key ally that has crushed a Shiite-led protest movement with the support of troops from Saudi Arabia.
"Mass arrests and brute force are at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain's citizens and will not make legitimate calls for reform go away," Mr Obama said.
Activists in Bahrain were delighted. There was no immediate response from Bahraini government and Bahrain TV did not broadcast Mr Obama's speech live, although many watched it on al Jazeera and al Arabiya.
The Bahraini royal family, however, could take some solace from Mr Obama's unsubstantiated assertion that Iran had tried to take advantage of the turmoil in the kingdom, analysts said.
Syrian activists, meanwhile, were encouraged by the US president's robust warning to the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, whose regime has responded to a popular revolt by killing more than 850 people.
Mr Obama said: "The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy. President Assad has a choice: he can lead that transition or get out of the way."
Some Syrians said they would have preferred if the US president had demanded the outright departure of the regime, which they believe is beyond reform.
Damascus responded furiously to Mr Obama's speech. Syria's official news agency said it amounted to "incitement".
Libyan rebels generally welcomed the US president's address but said they would have preferred if he had conferred formal recognition on their government, the National Transitional Council.
Mr Obama promised debt reduction to Egypt and other aid for fledgling Egyptian and Tunisian democracies. Yet some analysts said US aid and debt relief will have strings attached pertaining to foreign policy.
Washington's foreign policy goals include isolating Iran, ensuring continued Gulf Arab oil supplies and promoting Arab ties with Israel.
"What Obama didn't talk about: aid conditionally," wrote Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Centre in Qatar on Twitter. "My prediction on Obama's speech: Arab leaders won't like it much. Arab reformers won't like it much. This is the Obama style. Try to please everyone and end up disappointing everyone."
mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
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The Buckingham Murders
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Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
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ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
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Series information
Pakistan v Dubai
First Test, Dubai International Stadium
Sun Oct 6 to Thu Oct 11
Second Test, Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tue Oct 16 to Sat Oct 20
Play starts at 10am each day
Teams
Pakistan
1 Mohammed Hafeez, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed, 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Yasir Shah, 10, Mohammed Abbas, 11 Wahab Riaz or Mir Hamza
Australia
1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Mitchell Marsh, 5 Travis Head, 6 Marnus Labuschagne, 7 Tim Paine, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jon Holland
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
Ant-Man%20and%20the%20Wasp%3A%20Quantumania
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now