Examination of Current Challenges in United States (US)-Egypt Bilateral Relations
Main Research Question
What are some of the main current challenges facing United States (US)-Egypt bilateral relations, and what are its future prospects?
Hypothesis
Some of the main current challenges facing US-Egypt bilateral relations include the following – resolving the peace process between Israel and the rest of the Arab World in the Middle East and determining the scope of the Iranian nuclear program (Taleb, 2009).
Generally, US-Egypt bilateral relations is premised on the following matters – reforms in politics, reforms in the economy and cooperative measures for intelligence concerns (Kotschwar & Schott, 2010; Taleb, 2009). Reforms in politics center on the issue of promoting democracy in Egypt alongside the advancement of rights in both the civil and political lives of Egyptians. Reforms in the economy mainly involve the need to fix the Egyptian economic structure as well as stronger support for privatization and the private sector (Kotschwar & Schott, 2010; Taleb, 2009). Cooperative measures for intelligence concerns emphasize the geopolitically sound location of Egypt in the Middle East in countering threats to the interests of US-Egypt bilateral relations (Taleb, 2009).
Future prospects on the current challenges to US-Egypt bilateral relations duly involve political, economic and intelligence reforms and measures. The resolution of the Arab-Israeli peace process is the key to serving US interests in terms of pushing for a two-state solution – Palestinians under the initial political and economic caretaking of Egypt and Israel as a retained entity sans the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (Kotschwar & Schott, 2010; Taleb, 2009). US-Egypt bilateral relations also aim to assess and act on the growth of Iranian regional influence of in the Middle East, driven by the nuclear program of Iran. The growth of Iranian influence is a key political, economic and intelligence concern for US-Egypt bilateral relations, as it assesses the following issues (Taleb, 2009):
- The strong relationship of Iran with the Hamas and Hezbollah – two groups that threaten the national security of Egypt
- Threats posed by the foregoing to Egyptian workers across the Middle East, hence the need for an economic restructuring program
- Disagreements between US and Egypt over US policy towards Iran
Methodology
Assessing the current challenges between US-Egypt bilateral relations requires the assessment of data made available by the present literature, which includes case studies and reports coming from official government and organizational studies. Government institutions such as the US State Department and think tank organizations such as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) both serves as valuable information sources for this study.
Bibliography
Kotschwar, B., & Jeffrey Schott. 2010. Reengaging Egypt: Options for US-Egypt economic relations. Washington, DC: Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Taleb, Hassan. 2009. “Bilateral and Regional Issues in U.S.–Egyptian Relations.” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 17. http://carnegieendowment.org/2009/06/17/bilateral-and-regional-issues-in-u.s.-egyptian-relations/2xpz (June 17, 2009).
