President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt was full of swagger as he was the host to entrepreneurs and senior diplomats in Sharm el Sheikh for an investors’ conference last weekend. The event at the Red Sea resort town was meant to show that the Arab world’s most populous country had shaken off the turmoil of the 2011 popular uprising that briefly put Egypt on a path toward democratic reform. Postrevolutionary Egypt is open for business, Egyptian officials announced proudly.

By sending Secretary of State John Kerry to the meeting, the Obama administration appeared eager to signal its support for the Egyptian government’s intent to attract new and significant foreign investment. “How Egypt develops in the coming years, how it succeeds,” Mr. Kerry told reporters, “will also have a profound impact on the entire region.”

A strong, stable and prosperous Egypt is certainly in the best interest of the region and the United States. But, by largely supporting the country’s increasingly authoritarian government without question, the United States is pursuing an unprincipled and dangerous policy.

Senior administration officials see Egypt as an indispensable ally in the campaign against the Islamic State as well as in other foreign policy priorities in the region. But the Egyptian government’s crackdown on Islamist movements, including moderate ones who denounce the use of violence, is likely to lead to broader radicalization in communities that have no way to further their objectives and voice their grievances.