After endless bloodshed, the Egyptian government's only route back to popular legitimacy is through serious economic reform.
The stakes in Egypt keep rising. The latest clashes between the government and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood threaten to send Egypt into chaotic conditions.
The U.S. should encourage the new government—which, like it or not, call its rise a coup or not, is one Washington must work with—to achieve popular legitimacy while avoiding extreme actions that could create a civil war. With unemployment soaring, the economy sputtering and social tensions rising, economic improvements are a natural target for Egypt’s new leaders. The cold, hard truth is that Egyptians, and Egyptians alone, can save their country from toppling into a political and economic abyss. But Washington must help Egyptians to help themselves.