Washington and Cairo are settling, however fitfully, into loveless, although manageable, relations that aim at preserving the essential interests of both. That, at least, is the hope of US officials, particularity of those in the Pentagon. 

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has been a constant advocate for Egypt's new rulers in the Washington policy debate, sparked by the July putsch. From the Pentagon's military-security perspective, support for Egypt, no matter who is in the chair, is a no-brainer. Overflight rights and preferential transit through the Suez Canal are among the irreplaceable assets military officials are anxious to protect.

But Egypt has few fast friends in Washington, despite a generation of foreign aid and security cooperation.

The revolution's first phase opened up the prospect of a far more enthusiastic embrace of the country, but when the narrative of the Arab Spring (which always contained a full measure of wishful thinking) collapsed, there was little left but to resurrect the terms of engagement — frosty, correct, and without passion — that characterized the last years of the Mubarak era.