Some Aren't Psyched About Egypt's New President

Amid years of political turmoil, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was sworn in as Egypt's president Sunday, and it turns out Western powers are not exactly stoked about the development. Maybe that has something to do with the way Sisi praised his own power-grabbing military coup as a legit way to become president of a country in his own speech. Sisi took power in the coup last year, wresting control from then-President Mohamed Morsi, who was elected in the wake of Egypt's Arab Spring revolution but later came under fire for poor leadership.

Sisi was quick to assert his own power in the ceremony, Reuters reported.

Throughout its extended history over thousands of years our country has never witnessed a democratic peaceful handover of power.

Well, there was that time Morsi was freely elected.

We don't yet know what Sisi will do in Egypt, but for would-be dictators taking note at home, this is a great way to justify something: "If it's never worked before, it wasn't going to work." But Sisi also pledged to work for an "inclusive" Egypt whose people, he says, should "reap the harvest of their two revolutions," The New York Times reported.

Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood party, is in prison. Egyptian news organization Ahram Online reported that he was defiant in a news release on Sunday, which he signed as the "Republic of Egypt's President."

I admit that I have made mistakes, but I assure you that I have never betrayed my country.

Egypt says Sisi won 97 percent of the vote in an election last month.

Though high-up representatives of a bunch of Gulf states made sure to make an appearance at Sunday's event, the U.S. sent an adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry and a bunch of Western European countries just sent ambassadors.

Reuters spoke with the Brookings Institution's H.A. Hellyer, who said that probably meant things weren't warm and cozy between Egypt's new leadership and the West. (Not that that's anything very new.)

Just having ambassadors shows very clearly that while the governments are recognising the new transfer of power they are certainly not doing so with a huge amount of enthusiasm. It won’t mean much in terms of trade and cooperation, but it leaves a bit of a foul taste in people's mouths.