When the government of erstwhile U.S. ally Egypt shut down 17 Western prodemocracy groups, trashed their Cairo offices and slapped travel bans on some of their staff, political relations between Washington and Cairo hit a new and unexpected low.

Just a year after a tumultuous political uprising topped the long time rule of President Hosni Mubarak, the once close ties between the United States and Egypt have soured.

Why the Cairo rulers would bite the proverbial hand that feeds an annual $1.6 billion military/economic aid budget is a mystery until you conclude that this move may represent a wider game, playing the neo-nationalist card against the U.S. and showing that the all powerful and shadowy Supreme Council of the Armed Forces defends "Egyptian sovereignty."