The Egyptian-U.S. relations are in good shape especially now by the current Trump administration, said Paul Salim, Vice President of the Middle East Institute in Washington for Policy and Research.
The current U.S. administration wants to deal with Egypt as a friendly and strategic ally in the Middle East, Salim added during a meeting with the members of the 40th “Door-Knocking” delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce, currently visiting Washington.
He also noted that the two countries’ agreement on combating terrorism is necessary at all levels.
However, this does not mean that the American stance is fully in line with Egyptian policies, Salem said. There are voices in the U.S. Congress against some issues in several files in Egypt such as the situation of human rights, freedoms, and Copts, besides violations in military operations in Sinai.
He also added that the Congress and even the Trump administration have so far refused to consider the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group because there is insufficient evidence from their point of view to support such a stance. They also see that the experiences of the Muslim Brotherhood in Arab countries in the Middle East are not terrorist.
Paul emphasised that the impact of the recent visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was positive at economic, political, and security levels. He pointed out that the general atmosphere is great to bolster relations between the United States with Egypt. The two countries have already started studying further cooperation aiming to eliminate any disputes.
Paul also said that Egypt has already taken steps to restore confidence and interest internationally. The Pope’s visit may be very supportive in improving Egypt’s stance regarding the file of the christian citizens.
He pointed out that Egypt’s signing the International Monetary Fund’s $12 billion loan besides implementing reform plans by successfully adopting several economic measures has contributed to attracting foreign capitals to the market with projects of great economic value. President Trump and his government members are all businessmen and have a view of dealing with countries that can benefit the U.S. economy, different from previous administration.
Yet, the U.S. administration said that Trump still has no clear vision and stable policies on many issues.
President Trump began making tremendous changes and decisions at the start of his term. Trump signed a decree to alleviate the financial burden of the Obama Care health insurance bill, which the new president has repeatedly pledged to repeal.
Trump signed some executive orders regarding his cabinet appointments and other measures, such as a law allowing former Gen. James Matisse to serve as Secretary of Defense, disregarding the condition that the appointee must be a civilian, as has been the custom for the past seven years. He also announced the dismissal of all American ambassadors to the world, without identifying alternatives.
He added that Trump’s stance on all issues on U.S. domestic and foreign policies is not final and is subject to change according to the updates in the situation. This is evident to the fluctuation of his positions towards many countries all the time without giving clear reasons for these changes, Salem noted.
For his part, Gerald Firestone, a veteran U.S ambassador who currently serves as Director of the Gulf Affairs Centre at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said that one of the most important files in the Middle East is the tripartite relationship between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and America. Such a relationship serves many common interests of the concerned parties for the intermingling of many interests between the three countries, Firestone added.
He said that the U.S.-Saudi relations improved after King Salman’s visit to the United States as it showed its stance towards Yemen, Turkey, and Iran.
Concerning the U.S. stance towards the most important countries in the Middle East; such as Syria, Iran, and Turkey, Firestone emphasised that the American view is clear on the Syrian crisis and sees Assad’s departure from Syria’s rule as a fulcrum to start resolving the Syrian crisis.
This is the position of the American administration since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis. Former President Barack Obama imposed financial sanctions on Bashar al-Assad and several senior Syrian regime officials, and armed the Syrian opposition, which he described as moderate. The United States also imposed restrictions on Syrian ambassador’s movements.
The use of gas in the Syrian war caused a severe crisis in the relations. Trump said that the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun in the Syrian province of Idlib “changed its attitude” towards Syria and President al-Assad and held him responsible for the attack. Trump said it was “beyond the red lines” and that these “heinous acts” of the Assad regime could not be tolerated.
The director of the Centre for Gulf Affairs at the Middle East Institute further said that the U.S.-Turkey relations are linked to their stance on the Kurds, such a stance that is always at a standstill. Washington supports the Kurd-protection units and considers them a “military friend” in the war against ISIS, which in return deepened the U.S.-Turkish differences, especially on dealing with the Syrian file.
The United States expressed deep concern last week “over Turkish air strikes on sites in Syria and Iraq that targeted and killed 70 Kurdish fighters,” the Turkish Chief of Staff said on April 25.
As for the Iranian issue, it seems that it will take a sharper turn during the term of Donald Trump, who said he would work to reopen negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump believes that the agreement gives Iran what it does not deserve saying he would try to prevent any gains Iran might get from it. Which is different from the perception of Barack Obama, who was sympathetic to Iran and preferred the dialogue and breaking the barriers related to the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Paul Salem is one of the most important policy analysts at the Middle East Institute in Washington. He specialises in issues of political change, transition, conflict, and regional and international relations in the Middle East, particularly in the Levant and Egypt.
Gerald Firestone is a distinguished diplomat who has been in the diplomatic corps since 1975 and has worked mainly in the Middle East, including Pakistan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon, and most recently Yemen.
