In Egypt, Muslims and Christians tend to be friends, neighbors, and quite similar in common culture. At the same time, there is a latent but tangible reservoir of mistrust.

Despite repeated assurances from President Sisi to protect the country’s large Coptic minority, his government appears unwilling or unable to actually deliver on his promises.

Amidst global convulsions, one affected group remains relatively powerless and largely ignored: Middle Eastern Christians.

It took me a moment to comprehend. I opened my cell phone to check the news and saw the bold headline: 25 dead and 49 injured in an attack on the Coptic Orthodox cathedral. The spiritual center of Egyptian Christianity had been mercilessly violated.

In the evolving determination of American interests, is Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a repackaged pharaoh, or a miracle of God’s favor?