Egypt-United States Relations
Abstract
U.S.-Egyptian relations are tied to maintaining regional stability, improving bilateral relations focused on Egyptian economic development and military cooperation, developing Egypt's democracy, sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, and continuing U.S. foreign assistance to Egypt. Experience gained from Egyptian-U.S. joint military exercises proved valuable in easing coordination during the February 1991 Desert Storm operation that reversed Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. Egypt is a leader and moderating influence among many Arab, African, Islamic, and Third World states. Among the current issues in U.S.-Egyptian relations are a shared concern about international terrorism. Egypt can claim some familiarity with the subject, having defeated domestic Islamic terrorists intent on overthrowing the Egyptian government. The two countries disagree over the speed and depth, but not the need for some of Egypt's economic reforms. Egypt and the United States agree on the importance of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the need to continue current Arab-Israeli peace talks, and the need for regional stability. The two nations agree on Egypt's determination to introduce democratic reforms to Egypt. The United States has provided Egypt with an annual average of over $2 billion in economic and military foreign assistance since 1979. The United States will reduce Economic Support Funds (ESF) to about $400 million per year by 2008 in keeping with a plan to reduce aid to Israel. reduce aid to Israel. The Administration requested $575 million in economic grants and $1.3 billion in military grants for FY20O4 for Egypt. Most recently, the United States announced on August 11, 2003, that it was canceling the "Bright Star" joint Egyptian-U.S. military training exercise scheduled for October 2003 because of over-commitment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other areas. The exercises had been held every 2 years since 1983.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA476001
Entities
People
- Clyde Mark
Organizations
- Library of Congress