When President Obama went to Cairo in June 2009, he was lauded for seeking “a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world.” His speech was spiked with apologies for what he believes are past American errors and omissions and peppered with Utopian calls for “peace in the Middle East,” a “world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons” and upholding “the richness of religious diversity.” The president also boldly proclaimed himself to be “a student of history.” But two years on, it appears he has not learned some of history’s lessons very well.