Do Egyptians Dislike the United States?

The Pew Global Attitudes Project is out with a new poll on what Egyptians think about politics a few weeks ahead of their historical presidential elections. Some of the results are interesting:

The poll also contained a finding that comes as no surprise: Egyptians aren’t terribly fond of the United States. Only about one-in-five Egyptians (19 percent) has a favorable view of the United States. But the poll also contains a finding worth highlighting:

Despite these negative sentiments, a majority of Egyptians says either they want the U.S.-Egypt relationship to stay about as close as it has been in recent years (35 percent) or become even closer (20 percent), while 38 percent would like to see relations become less close.

So Egyptian attitudes toward the United States look to be deeply ambivalent. They can’t live with us; they don’t want to live without us. That spells danger for Washington’s diplomacy going forward. But it also spells opportunity.