Egypt–United States relations

In 1956, the U.S. was alarmed at the closer ties between Egypt and the Soviet Union, and prepared the OMEGA Memorandum as a stick to reduce the regional power of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. When Egypt recognized Communist China, the U.S. ended talks about funding the Aswan Dam, a high prestige project much desired by Egypt. The dam was later built by the Soviet Union. When Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, the Suez Crisis erupted with Britain and France threatening war to retake control of the canal and depose Nasser. Israel did invade the Suez in October 1956, and Britain and France (in league with Israel) sent in troops to seize the canal. Using heavy diplomatic and economic pressure, the Eisenhower administration forced Britain and France to withdraw soon, leading to a warming of relations between the U.S. and Egypt.[2] Due to U.S. support to Israel, during the Six-Day War, on June 8, 1967, Egypt severed diplomatic relations with USA and expelled Americans in Egypt. During and after the war, Egypt aligned with USSR which airlifted arms and ammunition to rebuild the Egyptian military and sent thousands of advisors to train Egyptian army and managing the air defense. [3]

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat with US President Jimmy Carter outside the White House in 1977.

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Egyptian foreign policy began to shift as a result of the change in Egypt's leadership from the fiery Nasser to the much more moderate Anwar Sadat and the emerging peace process between Egypt and Israel. Sadat realized that reaching a settlement of the Arab–Israeli conflict is a precondition for Egyptian development. To achieve this goal, Sadat ventured to enhance U.S.–Egyptian relations to foster a peace process with Israel. After a seven-year hiatus, both countries reestablished normal diplomatic relations on February 28, 1974.

Sadat asked Moscow for help, and Washington responded by offering more favorable of army's financial aid and technology. The advantages included Egypt's expulsion of 20,000 Soviet advisors and the reopening of the Suez Canal, and were seen by Nixon as "an investment in peace." [4][5]

Encouraged by Washington, Sadat opened negotiations with Israel, resulting most notably in the Camp David Accords brokered by President Jimmy Carter and made peace with Israel in a historic peace treaty in 1979.[6] Sadat's domestic policy, called 'Infitah,' was aimed at modernizing the economy and removing Nasser's heavy-handed controls. Sadat realized American aid was essential to that goal, and it allowed him to disengage from the Israeli conflict, and to pursue a regional peace policy.[7]

Military cooperation

Following the peace treaty with Israel, between 1979 and 2003, Egypt acquired about $19 billion in military aid, making Egypt the second largest non-NATO recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel. Also, Egypt received about $30 billion in economic aid within the same time frame. In 2009, the U.S. provided a military assistance of US$1.3 billion (inflation adjusted US$ 1.55 billion in 2021), and an economic assistance of US$250 million (inflation adjusted US$ 297.9 million in 2021).[8] In 1989 both Egypt and Israel became a Major non-NATO ally of the United States.

Military cooperation between the U.S. and Egypt is probably the strongest aspect of their strategic partnership. General Anthony Zinni, the former Commandant of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), once said, "Egypt is the most important country in my area of responsibility because of the access it gives me to the region." Egypt was also described during the Clinton Administration as the most prominent player in the Arab world and a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. U.S. military assistance to Egypt was considered part of the administration's strategy to maintaining continued availability of Persian Gulf energy resources and to secure the Suez Canal, which serves both as an important international oil route and a critical route for U.S. warships transiting between the Mediterranean and either the Indian Ocean or the Persian Gulf.

US President George W. Bush with President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak at Camp David in 2002.

Egyptian President Mubarak with US President Barack Obama in Cairo, Egypt, 4 June 2009.

Egypt is the strongest military power on the African continent,[9] and according to Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance, the largest in the Middle East

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on April 20, 2016

During the 2011 Egyptian revolution top US government officials urged Hosni Mubarak and his government to reform, to refrain from using violence and to respect the rights of protesters such as the right to peaceful assembly and association. Ties between the two countries became strained after Egyptian soldiers and police raided 17 offices of local and foreign NGOs—including the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Freedom House and the German Konrad-Adenauer Foundation on December 29, 2011 because of allegations of illegal funding from abroad.[15] The United States condemned the raids as an attack on democratic values[16] and threatened to stop the $1.3bn in military aid and about $250m in economic aid Washington gives Egypt every year,[17] but this threat was dismissed by the Egyptian government.[17] 43 NGO members[18] including Sam LaHood, son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and Nancy Okail, then resident director of U.S.-based NGO Freedom House's operations in Egypt, were charged with obtaining international funds illegally and failing to register with the Egyptian government.[19] After an appeal by those charged, the case had been switched from a criminal court to one handling misdemeanours, where the maximum penalty was a fine and not imprisonment.[20] After lifting a travel ban on 17 foreign NGO members,[20] among them 9 Americans,[20][21] the United States and Egypt began to repair their relations.[22] Nevertheless, on September 11, 2012, (the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks) Egyptian protesters stormed the US embassy in Cairo, tore down the American flag and replaced it with a flag with Islamic symbols,[23][24] to mock the Americans after an anti-Islamic movie denigrating the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, was shot in the United States and released on the internet.

In November 2012, Barack Obama—for the first time since Egypt signed the peace treaty with Israel—declared that the United States does not consider Egypt's Islamist-led government an ally or an enemy.[25][26][27] In another incident, General Martin Dempsey said that the U.S.–Egypt military ties will depend on Egypt's actions towards Israel. He said in June 2012; "The Egyptian leaders will salute a civilian president for the first time … and then they'll go back to barracks. But I don't think it's going to be as clean as that. That's why we want to stay engaged with them … not [to] shape or influence, but simply be there as a partner to help them understand their new responsibilities".[28]

President Donald Trump greets the President of Egypt, Abd El-Fattah El-Sisi, May 2017

Ties between the two countries have temporarily soured since the overthrow of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013, which followed a massive uprising against Morsi.[29] The Obama administration denounced Egyptian attempts to combat the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, cancelling future military exercises and halting the delivery of F-16 jet fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to the Egyptian Armed Forces.[30] Popular sentiment among secular Egyptians towards the United States has been negatively affected by conspiracy theories which claim that the U.S. assisted the unpopular Muslim Brotherhood in attaining power [31][32][33][34]—as well as the Obama administration's policy of tolerance toward the Muslim Brotherhood and the past presidency of Morsi. However, in a 2014 news story, the BBC reported that "the US has revealed it has released $575 million (£338m) in military aid to Egypt that had been frozen since the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi last year."[35] In spite of President Trump's travel ban to neighboring and other Muslim-majority countries, the relations between Egypt and the United States are expected to be warm.[36]

Since 1987, Egypt has been receiving military aid at an average of $1.3 billion a year.[1][37]

In April 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Egypt against purchasing Russian Sukhoi Su-35, saying "We’ve made clear that if those systems were to be purchased, the CAATSA statute would require sanctions on the [al-Sisi's] regime."[38]

• 
  U.S. President Barack Obama tours the Pyramids during his famous Cairo speech about a "change" in the US relations with the Islamic world, June 2009.
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  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Egypt's president Mohamed Morsi, who was the first Egyptian president to have gained power through an election, on May 25, 2013.
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  Secretary Kerry talking with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy of the interim government (which was installed in the aftermath of Morsi's overthrow until further elections could be held), on 3 November 2013.
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  Secretary Kerry bids farewell to then-Egyptian Minister of Defense General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

• Embassy of Egypt- Washington, DC
• Embassy of U.S.A. - Cairo