This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Contents: (1) Turning a Page in U.S.-Egyptian Relations?: U.S. Co. Loses Egyptian Nuclear Contract; (2) Historical Background: Egypt During the Colonial Era; The Constitutional Monarchy and the British; Nasser and Egypt During the Cold War; Egypt-Israeli Peace; The Camp David Agreement and 1979 Peace Treaty; Egypt Under Mubarak; (3) Regime Structure; (4) Political Opposition and Civil Society; (5) Current Issues in U.S.-Egyptian Relations: Egypt¿s Regional Role; Isolating Hamas; The 2008-09 Israel-Hamas War in Gaza; Smuggling Tunnels; The Release of Gilad Shalit?; Hezbollah Cell in Egypt; The Economy and U.S-Egyptian Trade; Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Women¿s Rights; (6) U.S. Foreign Assistance. Map and table.
This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.- Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt. U.S.-Egyptian relations are complex and multi-faceted, and this report addresses the following current topics: the Arab-Israeli peace process, Iraq, terrorism, democratization and reform, human rights, trade, and military cooperation. This report will be updated regularly. For more information on Egypt, see CRS Report RS22274, Egypt: 2005 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. U.S. policy on Egypt is aimed at maintaining regional stability, improving bilateral relations, continuing military cooperation, and sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Successive Administrations have long viewed Egypt as a leader and moderating influence in the Middle East, though in recent years, there have been increasing calls for Egypt to democratize.
This report provides a brief overview of the key issues for Congress related to Egypt and information on U.S. foreign aid to Egypt. The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since the late 1970s. U.S. policy makers have routinely justified aid to Egypt as an investment in regional stability, built primarily on long-running military cooperation and on sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Successive U.S. Administrations have viewed Egypt's government as generally influencing developments in the Middle East in line with U.S. interests. U.S. policy makers are now grappling with complex questions about the future of U.S.-Egypt relations, and these debates and events in Egypt are shaping consideration of appropriations and authorization legislation in the 112th Congress.
Historically, Egypt has been an important country for U.S. national security interests based on its geography, demography, and diplomatic posture. The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since the late 1970s. Successive U.S. Administrations have justified aid to Egypt as an investment in regional stability, built primarily on long-running cooperation with the Egyptian military and on sustaining the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.U.S. leaders also have consistently expressed concerns about governance and human rights in Egypt, and differences over these issues have tested bilateral relations repeatedly in recent years. The United States encouraged Egypt's long-serving President Hosni Mubarak to step down in 2011 in the face of a popular uprising, and revised U.S. assistance programs two years later, when the Egyptian military intervened to oust Mubarak's elected successor, Muhammad Morsi, amid popular demands.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, who led the 2013 military intervention and was elected in mid-2014, reportedly has high hopes for improving bilateral relations through engagement with the Trump Administration. President Trump has sought to improve U.S. relations with Egypt, which were perceived as strained under President Obama. Nevertheless, Administration officials have raised concerns about Egypt's new NGO law and the continued detention of American citizens in Egypt.Between 1946 and 2016, the United States provided Egypt with $78.3 billion in bilateral foreign aid (calculated in historical dollars-not adjusted for inflation). This report discusses the conditions governing the release of these funds. All U.S. foreign aid to Egypt (or any recipient) is appropriated and authorized by Congress. All U.S. military aid to Egypt finances the procurement of weapons systems and services from U.S. defense contractors.For FY2018, the President is requesting a total of $1.38 billion in foreign assistance for Egypt, nearly all of which would come from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) account. The $75 million FY2018 Economic Support and Development Fund (ESDF) request for Egypt is well below prior year appropriations, and Egypt has not received less than $100 million in U.S. economic assistance since the late 1970s.S. 1780, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018, allocates up to $1 billion in FY2018 FMF for Egypt, while stipulating that 25% of that amount (as opposed to 15% in previous annual appropriations legislation) shall be withheld until the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Egypt is taking effective steps to advance democracy and human rights in Egypt. A waiver for this certification is included in the bill. H.R. 3362, the House version of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2018, would provide $1.3 billion in FMF to Egypt. The bill does not include a withholding of FMF or certification requirement. It does require the Secretary of State to consult with appropriators "on any plan to restructure military assistance for Egypt."
This report provides an overview of the key issues related to Egypt and information on U.S. foreign aid to Egypt.The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since thelate 1970s. U.S. policy makers have routinely justified aid to Egypt as an investment in regionalstability, built primarily on long-running cooperation with the Egyptian military and on sustainingthe March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Successive U.S. Administrations have publiclycharacterized Egypt's government as generally influencing developments in the Middle East inline with U.S. interests.U.S. policy makers are now debating complex questions about the future of U.S.-Egypt relations.
This report provides an overview of the key issues related to Egypt and U.S. foreign aid to Egypt. Historically, Egypt has been an important country for U.S. national security interests based on its geography, demography, and diplomatic posture. The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since the late 1970s. Successive U.S. administrations have justified aid to Egypt as an investment in regional stability, built primarily on long-running cooperation with the Egyptian military and on sustaining the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. U.S. leaders also have consistently expressed concerns about governance and human rights in Egypt, and differences over these issues have tested bilateral relations repeatedly in recent years. The United States encouraged Egypt's long-serving president Hosni Mubarak to step down in 2011 in the face of a popular uprising, and revised U.S. assistance programs two years later, when the Egyptian military intervened to oust Mubarak's elected successor amid popular demands. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, who led the 2013 military intervention and was elected in mid-2014, reportedly has high hopes for improving bilateral relations through engagement with the Trump Administration. The Obama Administration first suspended and then recast U.S. assistance for Egypt after 2013, with Congress enacting legislation placing evolving conditions on continued U.S. aid. During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump attempted to differentiate his approach to Egypt from then-President Obama by personally praising Sisi and vowing to strengthen the bilateral relationship if elected. Some observers express concern that any improvement in U.S.-Egyptian ties may come at the expense of human rights in Egypt. Egypt's economy remains weak, the government faces significant fiscal challenges, and campaigns of insurgent and terrorist violence by various groups threaten the country's security. Reports in the Egyptian media indicate that the Sisi administration is seeking, among other things, a restoration of certain major U.S. defense equipment sales to Egypt, an overall increase in U.S. aid to Egypt, and a U.S. designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The Trump Administration may want Egypt to improve its counterterrorism and counter-insurgency efforts in the Sinai Peninsula, participate in a new international military coalition of Arab states, and play a more active role in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Between 1948 and 2016, the United States provided Egypt with $77.4 billion in bilateral foreign aid (calculated in historical dollars-not adjusted for inflation), including $1.3 billion a year in military aid from 1987 to the present. This report discusses the conditions governing the release of these funds. All U.S. foreign aid to Egypt (or any recipient) is appropriated and authorized by Congress. All U.S. military aid to Egypt finances the procurement of weapons systems and services from U.S. defense contractors. President Obama requested that Congress appropriate $1.3 billion in FY2017 military assistance and $150 million in FY2017 economic aid for Egypt. Foreign Operations appropriations legislation considered in the 114th Congress (H.R. 5912 and S. 3117) would have provided the requested military assistance, with the Senate version of the bill providing $75 million in economic aid and including the FY2016 appropriations act's withholding of 15% of FMF for Egypt from obligation until the Secretary of State can certify that Egypt is taking effective steps toward democracy and effective governance, among other things.
This report provides an overview of the key issues for Congress related to Egypt and U.S. foreign aid to Egypt. The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since the late 1970s. U.S. policymakers are now debating complex questions about the future of U.S.-Egypt relations, and these debates and events in Egypt are shaping consideration of appropriations and authorization legislation in the 114th Congress.
From the ground up the story of missed opportunities, mixed messages, and mutual frustrations in American relations with Egypt at a seminal time. Unprecedented in its drawing on Egyptian official sources, Hopes Dashed sheds new light on the difficulties and challenges of a nascent relationship characterized by missed opportunities, mixed messages, and mutual frustrations. However beneficial the intentions of those on the ground, their desire for Egyptian economic development was stymied by bureaucratic obstacles both in Egypt and the United States. And as Egypt became embroiled in the Cold War, policy decisions increasingly were made at higher levels by officials more concerned with geopolitical and Arab-Israeli issues and less how U.S. assistance could help the domestic political economy of Egypt. Alterman compellingly shows how the interests of both countries diverged to eventually undermine an early American attempt at economic assistance.
The United States has provided significant military and economic assistance to Egypt since the late 1970s. U.S. policy makers have routinely explained aid to Egypt as an investment in regional stability, built primarily on long-running co-operation with the Egyptian military and on sustaining the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. U.S. policy makers are now debating complex questions about the future of U.S.-Egypt relations, and these debates and events in Egypt are shaping consideration of appropriations and authorization legislation in the 114th Congress. This book provides an overview of the key issues for Congress related to Egypt and U.S. foreign aid to Egypt.
