$1.5B in aid last year is a powerful carrot. We have sticks too. The US employs carrots and sticks around the globe to promote national interests on a regular basis. To "empower self-determination" has never been an issue of lack of means, nor for want of proven ways. It is a matter of priorities as to what type of behavior (ours) we understand to be most important to serving our national interests.

No one said to send a petition. We tried that with King George, and he sent us his Army and Navy instead. This needs to not be done in public accusations and veiled threats over the airways either. This is the work for private rooms with small audiences, between senior leaders. When the affected people see their government making reasonable accomodations of their reasonable concerns following such meetings they will be able to deduce that we have taken a more neutral position.

There is a big difference between putting hard presser on an ally to do something he'd prefer not to do, and dictating exactly how they do things (mandating western-style womens rights, western-style democracy, etc). Few things are black and white.

What I find interesting on this forum is that when someone suggests "Black is not working and we need to change." the typical counter is "But White would not work either." Agreed. The answer lies between the two, and is likely closer to black than white in most cases, as simple changes of nuance and perception can have a tremendous impact.

Also, the US has no duty to "fix" Egypt, Tunisia, or any of the many other similarly situated allies we have in that theater. We do, however, have a duty to address the perception that we promote the security and sustainment of these regimes against the express will of their populaces.