Egypt, Friends or No.
Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:07 pm
Prior to Christmas the New York Times published an op-ed “Actually Egypt is a Terrible Ally”. It documented decades of non-performance – both for the benefit of the US and for the Egyptian people – and suggested the relationship be reduced/closed down. It justified this in part on the basis that whilst Egypt may once have been important in the region it no longer mattered and had irretrievably lost its leadership role. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/opin ... pence.html
Phrases such as ‘vacuous’, ‘major reduction in American military assistance’, ‘profoundly unfriendly behaviors’ (the new military alliance with Russia, Egyptian backing the anti-western side in Libya and Syria and Egyptian military relationships with North Korea), ‘Because of its internal decay, Egypt is no longer a regional heavyweight that can anchor America’s Middle East policy’ and it gets worse.
Both authors of this harsh article were senior US government officials in the Department of State and the National Security Council. It is likely that the Egyptian Dina Powell who is the current National Security Advisor to Trump (and who is shunned by the current Egyptian government) has a near identical view or at least a very negative view of Egypt’s current circumstances. She may however be leaving https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... b4456f0662
The Egyptian Ambassador to the US wrote a very brief response which is both illiterate, illogical and does not respond to the major arguments in the op-ed. If anything the response illustrates the low level of thinking skills in Egypt’s government. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/opin ... egypt.html
The NYT article follows the scathing Economist series of articles less than a year ago, the negative views of the Council on Foreign Relations and standard negative views in the BBC, Guardian and Financial Times. About a year ago the local Reuters put buckshot in their gun and aimed it at Egypt. In total they create an environment of informed opinion which will likely mean than no western multinational will invest a dollar in Egypt. In any event capital inflows may have peaked and could now slow dramatically. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -cut-looms
Chatham House has only a passing interest in Egypt.
There is not a single print or electronic media system in the West which has a positive view on Egypt - but organs like Bloomberg keep it technical and opinion free.
The Economist is doubly important because most large corporations and governments pay the 10 grand or so to get the Economist Intelligence Report on most countries and only reject The Economist position with reservations.
You wonder what is going on because the Government of Egypt has paid tens of millions to a US PR firm to improve its image and the Egyptian Army/Security Services have also hired another firm to do the same. Looks like government is as coordinated as ever. One of the firms hired lacks a reputation for integrity.
At the moment Egypt’s friends are a very small club – that does not include Saudi. Opportunities for the Russians and Chinese and there is always the French. It also has most/all of the media and the foreign policy eagles against it or not interested.
Phrases such as ‘vacuous’, ‘major reduction in American military assistance’, ‘profoundly unfriendly behaviors’ (the new military alliance with Russia, Egyptian backing the anti-western side in Libya and Syria and Egyptian military relationships with North Korea), ‘Because of its internal decay, Egypt is no longer a regional heavyweight that can anchor America’s Middle East policy’ and it gets worse.
Both authors of this harsh article were senior US government officials in the Department of State and the National Security Council. It is likely that the Egyptian Dina Powell who is the current National Security Advisor to Trump (and who is shunned by the current Egyptian government) has a near identical view or at least a very negative view of Egypt’s current circumstances. She may however be leaving https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... b4456f0662
The Egyptian Ambassador to the US wrote a very brief response which is both illiterate, illogical and does not respond to the major arguments in the op-ed. If anything the response illustrates the low level of thinking skills in Egypt’s government. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/opin ... egypt.html
The NYT article follows the scathing Economist series of articles less than a year ago, the negative views of the Council on Foreign Relations and standard negative views in the BBC, Guardian and Financial Times. About a year ago the local Reuters put buckshot in their gun and aimed it at Egypt. In total they create an environment of informed opinion which will likely mean than no western multinational will invest a dollar in Egypt. In any event capital inflows may have peaked and could now slow dramatically. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -cut-looms
Chatham House has only a passing interest in Egypt.
There is not a single print or electronic media system in the West which has a positive view on Egypt - but organs like Bloomberg keep it technical and opinion free.
The Economist is doubly important because most large corporations and governments pay the 10 grand or so to get the Economist Intelligence Report on most countries and only reject The Economist position with reservations.
You wonder what is going on because the Government of Egypt has paid tens of millions to a US PR firm to improve its image and the Egyptian Army/Security Services have also hired another firm to do the same. Looks like government is as coordinated as ever. One of the firms hired lacks a reputation for integrity.
At the moment Egypt’s friends are a very small club – that does not include Saudi. Opportunities for the Russians and Chinese and there is always the French. It also has most/all of the media and the foreign policy eagles against it or not interested.