FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Geography,
population, history, military strength, and diplomatic expertise
give Egypt extensive political influence in the Middle East and
within the Nonaligned Movement as a whole. Cairo has been a crossroads
of Arab commerce and culture for millennia, and its intellectual
and Islamic institutions are at the center of the region's social
and cultural development.
The Arab
League headquarters is in Cairo, and the Secretary General of
the League is traditionally an Egyptian. Former Egyptian Foreign
Minister Amre Moussa is the present Secretary General of the Arab
League. President Mubarak has often chaired the Organization of
African Unity, which is now becoming the African Union. Egyptian
Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali served as Secretary
General of the United Nations from 1991 to 1996.
Egypt is a key partner in the search for peace in the Middle East and resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sadat's groundbreaking trip to Israel in 1977, the 1978 Camp David Accords, and the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty represented a fundamental shift in the politics of the region--from a strategy of confrontation to one of peace as a strategic choice. Egypt was subsequently ostracized by other Arab states and ejected from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989. Egypt played an important role in the negotiations leading to the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, which, under U.S. and Russian sponsorship, brought together all parties in the region to discuss Middle East peace. This support has continued to the present, with President Mubarak often intervening personally to promote peace negotiations. In 1996, he hosted the Sharm El-Sheikh "Summit of the Peacemakers" attended by President Clinton and other world leaders. In 2000, he hosted two summits at Sharm El-Sheikh and one at Taba in an effort to resume the Camp David negotiations suspended in July of 2000, and in June 2003, Mubarak hosted President Bush for another summit on the Middle East peace process. Throughout mid-2004, Egypt worked closely with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to facilitate stability following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, which occurred in August and September of 2005. Prior to this Egypt and Israel reached an agreement that allowed Egypt to deploy additional forces along the Philadelphi Corridor in an attempt to control the border and prevent the smuggling of weapons.
Egypt played a key role during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis. President Mubarak helped assemble the international coalition and deployed 35,000 Egyptian troops against Iraq to liberate Kuwait. The Egyptian contingent was the third-largest in the coalition forces, after the U.S. and U.K. In the aftermath of the Gulf war, Egypt signed the Damascus declaration with Syria and the Gulf states to strengthen Gulf security. Egypt continues to contribute regularly to UN peacekeeping missions, most recently in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. In August 2004, Egypt was actively engaged in seeking a solution to the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, including the dispatch of military monitors. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Egypt, which has itself been the target of terrorist attacks, has been a key supporter of the U.S. war against terrorists and terrorist organizations such as Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaeda, and actively supported the Iraqi Governing Council, as well as the subsequent government of Prime Minister Allawi. In July 2005, terrorists attacked the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh. In the same month, Egypt's envoy to Iraq was assassinated.
U.S.-EGYPTIAN
RELATIONS
The United States and Egypt enjoy a strong and friendly relationship
based on shared mutual interest in Middle East peace and stability,
revitalizing the Egyptian economy and strengthening trade relations,
and promoting regional security. Over the years, Egypt and the
United States have worked together assiduously to expand Middle
East peace negotiations, hosting talks, negotiations, and the
Middle East and North Africa Economic (MENA) Conference. Multinational
exercises, U.S. assistance to Egypt's military modernization program,
and Egypt's role as a contributor to various UN peacekeeping operations
continually reinforce the U.S.-Egyptian military relationship.
An important pillar of the bilateral relationship remains U.S. security and economic assistance to Egypt, which expanded significantly in the wake of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in 1979. U.S. military aid to Egypt totals over $1.3 billion annually. In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided over $25 billion in economic and development assistance to Egypt between 1975 and 2002. A shift in assistance from infrastructure, health, food supply, and agriculture toward market-based economic development, good governance, and training programs is reflected in the motto, "From Aid to Trade." The Commodity Import Program, through which USAID provides hundreds of millions of dollars in financing to enable the Egyptian private sector to import U.S. goods, remains one of the largest and most popular USAID programs. Since 2003, U.S. assistance is also focusing more on economic reform, education, civil society, and other programs supported by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
U.S. military cooperation has helped Egypt modernize its armed forces and strengthen regional security and stability. Under Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs, the U.S. has provided F-4 jet aircraft, F-16 jet fighters, M-60A3 and M1A1 tanks, armored personnel carriers, Apache helicopters, antiaircraft missile batteries, aerial surveillance aircraft, and other equipment. The U.S. and Egypt also participate in combined military exercises, including deployments of U.S. troops to Egypt. Every other year, Egypt hosts Operation Bright Star, a multilateral military exercise with the U.S., and the largest military exercise in the region. Units of the U.S. 6th Fleet are regular visitors to Egyptian ports.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Egypt's armed forces, among the largest in the region, include the army, air defense, air force, and navy. The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt. To bolster stability and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance and training to a number of African and Arab states. Egypt remains a strong military and strategic partner of the United States.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Francis J. Ricciardone
Deputy Chief of Mission--Stuart E. Jones
Economic/Political Affairs--William R. Stewart
Consular Affairs--Richard Hermann
Management Affairs--Nick Baskey
Public Affairs--Haynes Mahoney
USAID--Ken Ellis
Defense Attaché--COL Ted Seel
Office of Military Cooperation--Maj Gen Michael Collings
Foreign Commercial Service--Amer Kayani
Foreign Agricultural Service--Peter Kurz
The U.S. Embassy is located at 8 Kamal ElDin Salah St., Garden City, Cairo, Egypt, tel: [20] [2] 797-3300, fax [20] [2] 797-3200.
