A year ago Friday, President Barack Obama stood in Cairo and vowed "a new beginning" in a speech about how he'd change U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Egyptian vendors sold T-shirts portraying Obama in King Tut regalia, and Muslims throughout the region thrilled at his middle name: Hussein.

Now, many Muslims in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East say they're dismayed that the promise of the speech has fizzled into U.S. policy-as-usual toward the region: civilian deaths in Afghanistan, an unstable Iraq, no pressure for reforms on Washington-friendly autocrats, no resolution for Guantanamo prisoners and no end in sight for the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel's deadly raid in international waters on an aid flotilla en route to break the siege on Gaza - and Obama's tepid response, in comparison to the condemnation of other world leaders - cemented perceptions for many of unconditional U.S. support for Israel. Some Arab commentators and bloggers said Obama no longer deserves his Nobel Peace Prize.

"His speech at Cairo University was wonderful and raised hopes that America was on a real path to changing its policies," said Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University, where Obama spoke. "But Obama's practices afterwards guaranteed that he is weaker than he seemed during his speech."