An Introduction to the Modern Middle East by David S. Sorenson

Author:David S. Sorenson [Sorenson, David S.]
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780813349237
Publisher: Westview Press

EGYPTIAN FOREIGN POLICY

Because of its location, its status as the largest Arab country by population, and the prestige accorded its leaders, Egypt plays an essential role in Middle East politics. Under Nasser, Egypt appealed to other Arabs through pan-Arabism; under Mubarak, Egypt has been a voice for stability and peace-building efforts.

Egypt and the United States have maintained close ties since Sadat severed his relationship with the Soviet Union. Next to Israel, Egypt receives more US aid than any other country, as noted above. Egypt has purchased some expensive equipment in the past with this funding source, including frigates, artillery pieces, Harpoon antiship missiles, and F-16 fighter aircraft, as well as tanks coproduced in Egypt, as noted above.94 President George W. Bush was quite unpopular, and though President Obama found brief support in Egypt after his Cairo speech, Egyptian attitudes toward the United States in general have plummeted since the 2011 revolution, with 79 percent of Egyptians holding negative views. 95

Relations with Neighbors

Egypt’s most challenging relationship is with the Palestinian population in Gaza. Relieved of Israeli occupation in 2005, Hamas (see Chapter 16) took control of the area, causing fears in Cairo that Hamas would use Gaza for military operations against neighboring Israel. Consequently, the Mubarak regime closed the Egypt-Gaza border to almost all trade, trying to prevent items of military value from reaching Hamas militias. When the Freedom and Justice Party inherited the Egyptian political helm in 2011, they faced the same problem, which got more serious in 2012, when Hamas and Israel exchanged increasingly lethal rocket attacks against each other. President Morsi had maintained the same tight border controls as had Mubarak, earning Hamas displeasure, yet as the rocket attacks accelerated in November, he found himself having to play an uncomfortable role as mediator between two parties with which he had poor relations. One way he chose to display his attitude was to flood tunnels to Gaza with Egyptian human waste, a fairly blunt sign of Egyptian limits for Hamas.

Egypt shares a border with Sudan to the south. Although tensions have been high between the two countries, there has been some relaxation recently. Egypt’s relationship with Sudan soured after the 1989 Islamist coup in Khartoum, and Egypt accused the Sudanese regime of harboring Egyptian Islamist fugitives and of complicity in a 1995 assassination attempt against Mubarak. Even though both sides have tried to mend relations, disputes remain over the exact location of the border. The key issue remains the free flow of the Nile, which runs through Sudan before reaching Egypt. Sudan has not yet tried to divert or block its flow, which would cause Egypt to suffer considerably.

Egypt has embraced globalization, although conditionally, and with it, challenges to its own image of cultural superiority. McDonald’s arrived in Egypt in 1994, and, as one commentator wryly noted, “In Egypt the chain’s reputation is very different from the greasy spoon aura the original now exudes on its home turf, the USA. Here a family meal at ‘Mac’ is a special treat, a symbol of status, the shiny beacon of progress, and the epitome of modernity.

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