On the other hand, democracy is all about giving power to those who are elected by the people. Period.
Ever since the Arab Spring uprisings ultimately led to the end of dictator Hosni Mubarak, the military has seized power for itself. In the meantime, its leaders never were clear about when they planned to relinquish their control.
However, in a democracy, it is essential that government controls and runs the army - and not the other way around.
Undoubtedly, Egypt still has to go a long way to become a consolidated democracy. While Morsi has managed to go a step in that direction now, nobody knows if at some point the military might strike back.
At the same time, the legitimate president and his Muslim Brotherhood will be judged internationally according to whether they respect the rights of minorities and those not defined by religion.
For more than a year, the Arab Spring has been challenging U.S. foreign policy to rethink the Middle East. It is true that Mubarak - even though a dictator - was a reliable partner to the United States, Israel, and the rest of the world. But Americans would be exposed as hypocrites if they did not support democracy.
In the long run, the Arab Spring presents the world with a new opportunity to find ways out of the gridlocked Middle East conflict. Imagine what it would be like to have a working Islamic democracy in Egypt on good terms with America and serving as an honorable middleman to Palestinians and Israelis. That is what the United States should hope and work for.
It is a time for cautious optimism now. Don't forget that it was the Islamic party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan that restricted the power of the military in Turkey and that is modernizing the country economically now.
Not everybody whose political beliefs are influenced by his religious faith - whether Islam or anything else - is an extremist. Americans ought to know this better than many other nations.
Foreign policy should not restrict itself by perpetuating old preconceptions. That applies to the Muslim Brotherhood. But America should not forget about it, either.
