Here is a foreign policy subject that no one talks about these days: the future of Egypt. The Moslem Brotherhood is out after Mohamed Morsi was ousted last year. The remnants of the Brotherhood leadership are on the run; many were imprisoned and the rest have gone underground. The military ruler, General Sisi, has resigned his commission and announced that he is running for president, a position he is expected to win easily. Things have calmed down since the uproar of the last three years, but there still is an active Islamist opposition that carries out armed attacks in the Sinai region and elsewhere across the country. Egyptians are living in desperate poverty for the most part. Economic conditions have gotten substantially worse during the years of turmoil. Millions of people cannot find work, and hope for a better future is hard to find. This is the reality of Egypt.
Egypt is a critical country in the Middle East. Were Egypt to revert back to the Islamists, it would be a major disaster for the USA and for the world. It is not just that Egypt controls the Suez Canal; much more important, Egypt is the most populous and most influential Arab country. A successful Egypt in which Moslems and Christians live in harmony is an example for the region. An Egypt which manages to bring some measure of prosperity to its people (or which at least alleviates some of the worst poverty) is also an example for the region. In short, a successful and peaceful Egypt would by itself go a long way towards restoring peace to the entire area.
So what is American policy towards Egypt? That is really a trick question because it is based on the faulty assumption that the United States actually has a policy regarding Egypt. We do not! All that we have a remnants of old policies put in place by previous administrations. We still provide military aid to Egypt as was first established back in the 1970s. Of course, the Obama administration has held up that aid in a way to anger the Egyptian military while at the same time refusing to cut off the aid altogether in a way sufficient to anger the Egyptian opposition. It is a lose-lose situation. We give Egypt virtually no economic help. That was cut off by the Obama administration as well. America also gives Egypt no respect. The current government is treated as illegitimate by Washington. It is the only government that Egypt has, but we treat it as if it is a nasty thing alternatively to be ignored and then chastised.
Wouldn't it make sense for the USA to try to resurrect its friendship with Egypt? Why not send a high ranking official like secretary of state Kerry to Cairo to discuss ways in which the USA can help make things better for Egypt and its people? That does not have to include foreign aid. For example, America could have some of its fleet in the Mediterranean make port calls in Alexandria. Those visits would pump millions of dollars into the local economy. There are countless other measures that could be adopted that would help the Egyptian economy to recover. We could even promote joint Egyptian-Israeli economic enterprises that would help cement peace between those two countries. Treating the Egyptian government with respect and helping Egypt repair its economy are good moves for the long term prospects for peace in the region. It is certainly not up to the USA to arrange the future of Egypt; that is the job of the Egyptian people. We can, however, adopt a policy that helps Egypt move down the road that will be most beneficial to the prospects for peace in the world. It would be nice for Washington to recognize this reality.
Sadly, president Obama and his people seem unable to look into the future. There are all sorts of places around the world where America has no functional foreign policy. It seems that Obama's long term foreign policy can be summed up in one word: drift. Sadly, the world is drifting towards more unrest, more strife, more terrorism, less economic growth and less peace.
Egypt is a critical country in the Middle East. Were Egypt to revert back to the Islamists, it would be a major disaster for the USA and for the world. It is not just that Egypt controls the Suez Canal; much more important, Egypt is the most populous and most influential Arab country. A successful Egypt in which Moslems and Christians live in harmony is an example for the region. An Egypt which manages to bring some measure of prosperity to its people (or which at least alleviates some of the worst poverty) is also an example for the region. In short, a successful and peaceful Egypt would by itself go a long way towards restoring peace to the entire area.
So what is American policy towards Egypt? That is really a trick question because it is based on the faulty assumption that the United States actually has a policy regarding Egypt. We do not! All that we have a remnants of old policies put in place by previous administrations. We still provide military aid to Egypt as was first established back in the 1970s. Of course, the Obama administration has held up that aid in a way to anger the Egyptian military while at the same time refusing to cut off the aid altogether in a way sufficient to anger the Egyptian opposition. It is a lose-lose situation. We give Egypt virtually no economic help. That was cut off by the Obama administration as well. America also gives Egypt no respect. The current government is treated as illegitimate by Washington. It is the only government that Egypt has, but we treat it as if it is a nasty thing alternatively to be ignored and then chastised.
Wouldn't it make sense for the USA to try to resurrect its friendship with Egypt? Why not send a high ranking official like secretary of state Kerry to Cairo to discuss ways in which the USA can help make things better for Egypt and its people? That does not have to include foreign aid. For example, America could have some of its fleet in the Mediterranean make port calls in Alexandria. Those visits would pump millions of dollars into the local economy. There are countless other measures that could be adopted that would help the Egyptian economy to recover. We could even promote joint Egyptian-Israeli economic enterprises that would help cement peace between those two countries. Treating the Egyptian government with respect and helping Egypt repair its economy are good moves for the long term prospects for peace in the region. It is certainly not up to the USA to arrange the future of Egypt; that is the job of the Egyptian people. We can, however, adopt a policy that helps Egypt move down the road that will be most beneficial to the prospects for peace in the world. It would be nice for Washington to recognize this reality.
Sadly, president Obama and his people seem unable to look into the future. There are all sorts of places around the world where America has no functional foreign policy. It seems that Obama's long term foreign policy can be summed up in one word: drift. Sadly, the world is drifting towards more unrest, more strife, more terrorism, less economic growth and less peace.
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