On paper, the design seems perfectly fine, even desirable.
To accommodate the growing number of U.S. diplomats and advisers arriving in Egypt, construction will begin next year in downtown Cairo on a gleaming new embassy, complete with sweeping drive and reflecting pool. Although the State Department has not yet approved a final design, the main building will be at least 15 stories tall. The $43 million structure will replace the present embassy, a sprawling, overcrowded hodgepodge of half a dozen buildings.
The embassy staff that numbered 25 in 1975 now stands at 215 Americans,...