Michael Hughes, a foreign policy strategist at the Washington-based New World Strategies Coalition, has said that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is going to side with China and Iran to rebalance the region.
In an interview with RT published on Saturday, Hughes said Egypt needs immediate cash from the U.S., the IMF, and the Persian Gulf monarchies, but “in the long term (the Egyptians) want to get better with China, who can fill the gap so that they don’t have to rely on the West anymore.”
The foreign policy analyst also said that the feeling between Cairo and Tehran is mutual.
“The unspoken link here is Israel,” Hughes said, adding, “Here’s the connection, for Morsi starts looking like a geopolitical genius. If he can pull this off, if he can make Israel to step back with the whole ‘bombing Iran’ thing – that would be pretty amazing.”
“After all, if Egypt finds Iran as a partner they don’t have to rely on the U.S. or Israel, and they can offset and counterbalance the (Persian) Gulf monarchies,” he said.
“It’s an interesting dynamic. Even though the Muslim Brotherhood are Sunni – and Iran is Shia – they have a lot in common against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
In addition, Hughes said, “Morsi is pretty brilliant. He has an endgame in mind. We don’t know what it is. We hope it’s not a caliphate.”
“I think Iran and Egypt – they are going to offset the Saudi and the U.S.,” he concluded.
Back to Defamed Past Or Towards A Democratic Future?
Don Newman, Chairman of Canada 2020 and Senior Columnist with ipolitics.ca, who also served as foreign correspondent and Parliamentary Editor at the CBC, has proposed a question about the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s policies. The question is ” Do Morsi’s recent moves suggest his agenda is to take Egypt toward a democratic future, or back to an authoritarian past?.
The senior columnist said he unfortunately couldn’t predict a democratic future for Egypt. He doesn’t consider the recent move of sacking the military leaderships as a part of a plan that aims to reduce the role of the military; rather it is a power play to make sure the Egyptian military is led by people loyal to President Morsi. He described the MB movement as anti-democratic.
Morsi’s Visit To China; Political, Economic
Only two months into his presidency, the newly-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is about to unfold his first China trip on Tuesday, aiming to forge closer ties with Beijing.
As Egypt, a long-time bellwether in the Arab world, struggled to get out of the bloody social unrest last year, the most pressing challenge for Morsi and his government at the moment is to revive the country’s stagnant economy.
That’s why Morsi is accompanied by a group of Egyptian business tycoons. The two countries were expected to sign a series of cooperation agreements, which will consolidate their economic ties.
As a matter of fact, Egypt and China have managed to maintain steady and robust cooperation despite Egypt’s social turmoil. Bilateral trade rose to 8.8 billion U.S. dollars last year, up nearly 30 percent year-on-year.
At the same time, the Chinese government extended its helping hand to prompt Egypt’s economic recovery by offering assistance and expanding investments.
China decided in April to provide 90 million RMB (14.16 million dollars) worth of free aids, while its investments in the Arab country in 2011 surged to 80 million dollars, up 60 percent compared to that of 2010.
However, the fledgling Egyptian government has a load of mounting tasks to improve confidence of foreign investors, including China’s.
In addition to deepening economic cooperation, Beijing and Cairo could also work together as trusted partners on a wide range of international issues, especially the on-going conflicts in Syria.
Both China and Egypt believe that the 17-month-long Syrian crisis should be settled through political means, opposing external military intervention.
With similar positions on Syria, the two governments could jointly play an even more constructive and effective role in bringing peace to the conflict-laden Middle East country.
Additionally, Egypt could be a bridge for China to strengthen cooperation with the whole Arab world and the African continent within the UN and other international organizations.
It is expected that with Morsi’s coming visit, the two countries shall build on their existing mechanisms and give a boost to bilateral ties.
The Egyptian government could count on China as a reliable partner to rebuild its post-upheaval nation.
