Egypt–United States Relations
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Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
formally began relations in 1922 after Egypt gained nominal independence from the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Relations between both countries have largely been dictated by regional issues in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
such as the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
and
Counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...
. But also domestic issues in Egypt regarding the country's human rights record and American support for the regimes of
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
and
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...
for which the United States had come under controversy for in the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, and with many dissidents of the current regime describing Sisi's rule as tyrannical.


History


Background

The United States had minimal dealings with Egypt when it was controlled by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(before 1864) and Britain (1882–1922). Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
(1956–1970) antagonized the US by his pro-Soviet policies and anti-Israeli rhetoric, but the Americans helped keep him in power by forcing Britain and France to end their invasion in 1956 immediately. The Americans' policy has been to provide strong support to governments that supported US and Israeli interests in the region, especially Egyptian Presidents
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
(1970–1981) and
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
(1981–2011). Between 1948 and 2011, the US provided Egypt with a cumulative total of $71.6 billion in bilateral military and economic aid. That is the largest amount given to any nation in the same period after Israel.


1950s and 1960s

Initially, the
Egyptian Revolution of 1952 The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 1952 coup d'état () and the 23 July Revolution (), was a period of profound political, economic, and societal change in Egypt. On 23 July 1952, the revolution began with the toppling of King ...
did not alter relations with the United States, which continued to send foreign aid, with some claiming that the Nasser regime was initially backed by the United States modeled in the Project FF of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
. However, by 1956, the US was alarmed at the closer ties between Egypt and the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and prepared the OMEGA Memorandum as a stick to reduce the regional power of President
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
. When Egypt recognized Communist China, the US ended talks about funding the
Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge D ...
, a high-prestige project desired by Egypt. The dam was later built by the Soviet Union. When Nasser nationalized the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
in 1956, the
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
erupted with Britain and France threatening war to retake control of the canal and depose Nasser. US Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...
proposed creating an international consortium to run the canal, a solution that Nasser rejected. At the same time, the United States grew unwilling to support a foreign intervention against Egypt for fear of Soviet intervention. It also was opposed to
European colonialism The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and Ar ...
and worried that Western intervention in Egypt would weaken its authority to condemn the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
invaded 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 soon forced Britain and France to withdraw.Burns, William J. "Punishing Nasser." In Economic Aid and American Policy toward Egypt, 1955-1981. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985. The US delegation to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
voted in favor of
Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
resolutions condemning the invasion and creating the
United Nations Emergency Force The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was a military and peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the Suez Crisis, Suez Crisis of 1956 through the establishment of international peacekeeper ...
. More significantly, the US threatened to sell its bonds and deny emergency
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
assistance for oil shortages, which would cause a
devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...
of the
pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...
that would have left Britain unable to import crucial goods. That American pressure led to a temporary warming of Egyptian relations with the United States, but President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
warned that the US would consider closure of the
Straits of Tiran The Straits of Tiran ( ') are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai Peninsula, Sinai and Arabian Peninsula, Arabian peninsulas that connect the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about . The Multinatio ...
to Israeli shipping as an act of war. Relations became strained again in the 1960s because Egypt purchased Soviet arms and refused to accept a US-brokered arms control agreement for the Arab-Israeli conflict, which led to the US selling M48A4 Mag'ach tanks and
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D und ...
attack aircraft to Israel in 1965. The arms sale escalated tensions further, with Egypt expelling the Emergency Force and closing the Straits of Tiran. After US President
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
had failed to gain diplomatic support for an international naval operation to reopen the straits by force, he reluctantly decided to support a unilateral preemptive invasion by Israel. The
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
ended with the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
occupying most of the
Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
, including the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
and the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
, which Egypt had occupied. The United States tried to negotiate a ceasefire to prevent a Soviet intervention and endorsed United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which encouraged Israel to return its occupied territories in exchange for peace agreements. However, Egypt accused the US of supporting Israel during the war. On June 8, 1967, Egypt severed diplomatic relations with the US and expelled Americans in Egypt. During and after the war, Egypt aligned with the Soviets, who airlifted arms and ammunition to rebuild the
Egyptian Armed Forces The Egyptian Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Egypt, Arab Republic of Egypt. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces directs (a) Egyptian Army forces, (b) the Egyptian Navy, (c) Egyptian Air Force and (d) Egyptian Air Defense Forces. ...
and sent thousands of advisors to train the
Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...
and manage its air defense. Egypt, along with the Soviet Union and Israel, rejected the Rogers Plan, by Johnson's successor,
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, to resolve to the Arab-Israeli conflict but accepted a lighter agreement to end the
War of Attrition The War of Attrition (; ) involved fighting between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and their allies from 1967 to 1970. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, no serious diplomatic efforts were made to resolve t ...
.


1973–2011

At the beginning of the 1970s American-Egypt relations remained poor because of the presence of anti-aircraft batteries near the Suez Canal. After the death of Nasser, his more moderate successor,
Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
, opened backchannel negotiations with the
Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the ...
for a peace agreement with Israel, but they stalled because of Israel's unwillingness to withdraw the IDF from the eastern bank of the Suez Canal. Confident that Egypt would not try to invade Israel, Nixon and National Security Advisor
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
delayed negotiations until after the
1972 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew defeated Democratic Senator George McGovern and former Ambassador Sargent Shriver in ...
and the
1973 Israeli legislative election Legislative elections were held in Israel on 31 December 1973. Voter turnout was 79%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p125 The election was postponed for two months because ...
. Instead, Egypt and
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
launched a surprise invasion of Israel starting the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and Egypt rejected a joint American-Soviet ceasefire proposal. During the war, the United States agreed to an airlift to resupply Israel and accepted Soviet ceasefire proposals at the Security Council, but Kissinger encouraged Israeli forces to continue to advance into Egypt after the tide of the war had shifted. The United States finally convinced Israel to accept a ceasefire because of the OPEC oil embargo and Soviet General Secretary
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...
's threat of direct intervention by the
Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...
. After the 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 Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
(October 1970) and of the emerging peace process between Egypt and Israel. Sadat realized that reaching a settlement of the
Arab–Israeli conflict The Arab–Israeli conflict is a geopolitical phenomenon involving military conflicts and a variety of disputes between Israel and many Arab world, Arab countries. It is largely rooted in the historically supportive stance of the Arab League ...
was a precondition for Egyptian development. To achieve that goal, Sadat ventured to enhance relations with the US to foster a peace process with Israel. After a seven-year hiatus, both countries re-established normal diplomatic relations on February 28, 1974. At the same time, the United States engaged in "
shuttle diplomacy In diplomacy and international relations, shuttle diplomacy is the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact. Originally and usually, the proce ...
" to negotiate disengagement agreements between the Arab world and Israel. Israel and Egypt signed the American-brokered
Sinai Interim Agreement The Sinai Interim Agreement, also known as the Sinai II Agreement, was a diplomatic agreement signed by Egypt and Israel on September 4, 1975, with the intention of peacefully resolving territorial disputes. The signing ceremony took place in Gene ...
in 1975. Sadat asked Moscow for help, and Washington responded by offering more favorable financial aid and technology for the Egyptian Army. The advantages for the US included Egypt's expulsion of 20,000 Soviet advisors and the reopening of the Suez Canal which were seen by Nixon as "an investment in peace." Encouraged by Washington, Sadat opened negotiations with Israel that resulted most notably in the
Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...
, which were brokered by US President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
, and peace with Israel in a historic peace treaty in 1979. Sadat's domestic policy, '' Infitah'', was aimed at modernizing the economy and removing Nasser's heavy-handed controls. Sadat realized that American aid was essential to that goal since it allowed him to disengage from the Israeli conflict and pursue a regional peace policy.


2011 Egyptian Revolution and aftermath

During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, top US government officials urged Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
and his government to reform, refrain from using violence, and respect the rights of protesters such as those to peaceful assembly and association. Ties between the countries became strained after Egyptian soldiers and police had raided 17 offices of local and foreign NGOs, including the
International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and funded and supported by the United States federal government. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. Its public mission is to a ...
(IRI), the
National Democratic Institute The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a non-profit American non-governmental organization whose stated mission is to "support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability". It is ...
(NDI),
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
, and the German
Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation ('' German: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: KAS'') is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's head ...
on December 29, 2011, because of allegations of illegal funding from abroad. The US condemned the raids as an attack on democratic values and threatened to stop the $1.3 billion in its military aid and about $250 million in economic aid that it gave Egypt every year, but the threat was dismissed by the Egyptian government. There were 43 NGO members including Sam LaHood, son of US Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...
, and Nancy Okail, then resident director of the American-based NGO
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
's operations in Egypt, was charged with obtaining international funds illegally and failing to register with the Egyptian government. After an appeal by those charged, the case had been switched from a criminal court to one handling misdemeanors for which the maximum penalty was a fine, not imprisonment. After lifting a travel ban on 17 foreign NGO members, including 9 Americans, the US and Egypt began to repair their relations. Nevertheless, on September 11, 2012, (the 11th anniversary of the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
) Egyptian protesters stormed the US embassy in Cairo, tore down the
American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...
, and replaced it with a flag with Islamic symbols to mock the Americans after an anti-Islamic movie denigrating the Islamic prophet,
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, was shot in the United States and released on the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. Morsi refused to condemn the attack, instead calling on the United States to apologize for allowing the film to be posted. In November 2012, Barack Obama, for the first time since Egypt signed its peace treaty with Israel, declared that the United States does not consider Egypt's Islamist-led government as either an ally or an enemy. In another incident, General Martin Dempsey said that the American–Egyptian military ties would 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 oshape or influence, but simply be there as a partner to help them understand their new responsibilities." Ties between the countries temporarily soured during the overthrow of Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012massive uprising against him. The
Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...
denounced Egyptian attempts to combat the
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
and its supporters, canceled future military exercises, and halted the delivery of F-16 jet fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters to the Egyptian Armed Forces. Popular sentiment among secular Egyptians towards the United States has been negatively affected by conspiracy theories claiming that the Americans had assisted the unpopular
Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
in attaining power and by the Obama administration's policy of tolerance toward the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi. However, in a 2014 news story, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
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." Despite Donald Trump's travel ban to neighboring and other countries, relations between Egypt and the United States were expected to be warm. Since 1987, Egypt has been receiving military aid at an average of $1.3 billion a year. In April 2019, US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
warned Egypt against purchasing Russian
Sukhoi Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Sukhoi Su-27, Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, super ...
: "We’ve made clear that if those systems were to be purchased, the CAATSA statute would require sanctions on the l-Sisi'sregime." President_Ronald_Reagan_Mohammed_Hosni_Mubarak_Mrs._Mubarak_Nancy_Reagan_at_The_State_Visit_of_President_Mohammed_Hosni_Mubarak_of_Egypt_Arrival_for_Dinner_in_The_Residence.jpg, US President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan meets Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Suzanne Mubarak at Mubarak's state visit to Washington, March 1982 Photograph_of_President_William_J._Clinton_Walking_with_Egyptian_President_Hosni_Mubarak_along_the_White_House_Colonnade,_10-25-1993_(6175659599).jpg, US President Bill Clinton Walking with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak along the White House Colonnade, October 1993 Hosni Mubarak with George W. Bush.jpg, US President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
with Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
at
Camp David Camp David is a country retreat for the president of the United States. It lies in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont, Maryland, Thurmont and Emmitsburg, Maryland, Emmitsburg, a ...
in 2002. President Barack Obama tours the Pyramids and Sphinx with Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.jpg, US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
tours the Pyramids with Egyptian Egyptologist
Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass (; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptians, Egyptian archaeology, archaeologist, Egyptology, Egyptologist, and former Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt), Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, a position he held twice. He has ...
during his famous Cairo speech about a "change" in the US relations with the Islamic world, June 2009. -UNGA (48784697861).jpg, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with US President Donald Trump at the 45th G7 summit in
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...
, September 2019.


Military cooperation

Following the peace treaty with Israel, Egypt between 1979 and 2003 acquired about $19 billion in military aid, making it the second-largest non-NATO recipient of US military aid, after Israel. Egypt received about $30 billion in economic aid within the same time frame. In 2009, the US provided military assistance of $1.3 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ), and economic assistance of $250 million (equivalent to $ million in ) In 1989, both Egypt and Israel became major non-NATO allies of the United States. Military cooperation between the US and Egypt is probably the strongest aspect of their strategic partnership. General
Anthony Zinni Anthony Charles Zinni (born September 17, 1943) is a retired United States Marine Corps General (United States), general and a former Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). From 2001 to 2003, he served as a special e ...
, the former Commandant of the US 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 Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
as the most prominent player in the Arab world and a key US ally in the Middle East. Military assistance to Egypt was considered part of the administration's strategy to maintain the continued availability of
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
energy resources and secure the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, which serves as an important international oil route and a critical route for US warships transiting between the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
and the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
or the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
. Egypt is the strongest military power in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, and, according to Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance, the largest in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. In February 2021, the US State Department announced a possible sale of missiles to Egypt worth $197 million. The sale was reportedly announced days after the Egyptian government had detained family members of a human rights activist having dual citizenship of the US and Egypt, Mohamed Soltan. He leads a non-profit organization called the Freedom Initiative that demands attention to the impunity and the disregard for human rights in Egypt under President
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...
. The
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...
on 22 April 2021 collaborated with 13 other civil society groups and sent an open letter urging the
Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...
against waiving the human rights situation while IT sent military aid to Egypt for fiscal year 2020. Rights groups including
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
, DAWN, and
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, urged the administration to refrain from using the national security waiver when it released military aid. In January 2022, the Biden administration decided to reprogram $130 million in fiscal year 2020 Foreign Military Financing (FMF) by citing the country's failure to improve its human rights records. In September 2021, the US split the $300 million tranche of military aid pending the Egyptian government's fulfillment of human rights conditions. Nearly 19 human rights organizations welcomed the decision intended for el-Sisi's brutal government. However, at the same time, they denounced the Biden administration for authorizing $2.5 billion in arms sales to Egypt and obligating $1 billion in fiscal year 2021 FMF.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
said that the administration's decision undermined the very purpose of reprogramming the funds and also wasted “a meaningful step toward fulfilling its promise to “center” human rights in its relationship with Egypt.”


Counterterrorism

Despite differences and periods of friction in relations between the countries, American–Egyptian relations under Mubarak had evolved to move beyond the Middle East peace process towards an independent bilateral friendship. It was in the Americans' interest for Egypt to present a moderate voice in Arab councils and to persuade other Arab states to join the peace process and to normalize relations with the US. However, Egyptian–American relations have lately become somewhat tenser. That is to a great extent because of the Egyptians' unwillingness to send troops to Afghanistan and Iraq in peace stabilization missions. Egypt strongly backed the US in its war against international terrorism after the September 11 attacks of 2001 but refused to send troops to Afghanistan during and after the war. Egypt also opposed US military intervention of March 2003 in Iraq through its membership in the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
and the
Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
, and continued to oppose US occupation of the country after the war and refused to comply with US requests to send troops to the country, even under a UN umbrella. The issue of participation in the postwar construction efforts in Iraq has been controversial in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. Opponents say that the war was illegal and that it is necessary to wait until Iraq has a legal representative government to deal with it. On the other hand, supporters of participation argued that the responsibility to protect Iraq and to help during its time of crisis should prevail to guide the Egyptian action in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, which thinks otherwise. As of 2011, US officials quoted in ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' described Egyptian security and military as having shared "valuable intelligence" and providing other "useful counterterrorism assistance" in the 1980 and the 1990s and "particularly in the decade since the 9/11 attacks." Under Mubarak and his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, the US had "an important partnership" in counterterrorism. When the US made cuts in military aid to Egypt after the overthrow of Morsi and the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, it continued funding for counterterrorism, border security, and security operations in the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...
and the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, which Israel considers very important to its security.


Resident diplomatic missions

* Egypt has an embassy in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and consulates-general in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. * United States has an embassy in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
.Embassy of the United States in Cairo
/ref>


See also

* Foreign relations of Egypt *
Foreign relations of the United States The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all United Nations members and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer Territory of Palestine. Additionally, the U ...
* Embassy of Egypt, Washington, D.C. * Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt *
United States foreign policy in the Middle East United States foreign policy in the Middle East has its roots in the early 19th-century First Barbary War, Tripolitan War that occurred shortly after the United States Declaration of Independence, 1776 establishment of the United States as an i ...


References


Further reading

* * Blanga, Yehuda U. "Nasser's Dilemma: Egypt's Relations with the United States and Israel, 1967–69." ''Middle Eastern Studies'' 51.2 (2015): 301–326.
online
* Blanga, Yehuda U. ''The US, Israel, and Egypt: Diplomacy in the Shadow of Attrition, 1969-70'' (Routledge, 2019). * * Borzutzky, Silvia and David Berger. "Dammed If You Do, Dammed If You Don't: The Eisenhower Administration and the Aswan Dam," ''Middle East Journal,'' Winter 2010, 64#1 pp 84–102 * Cohen, Stephen P. ''Beyond America's grasp: a century of failed diplomacy in the Middle East'' (2009). * Elkady, Karim. ''US–Egypt Relations. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History'' (2020) online. * Gardner, Lloyd C. ''The Road to Tahrir Square: Egypt and the United States from the Rise of Nasser to the Fall of Mubarak'' (2011) * Glickman, Gabriel. ''US-Egypt Diplomacy Under Johnson: Nasser, Komer, and the Limits of Personal Diplomacy'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021). * Holmes, Amy Austin. ''Coups and revolutions: Mass mobilization, the Egyptian military, and the United States from Mubarak to Sisi'' (Oxford University Press, 2019). * Jensehaugen, Jørgen. ''Arab-Israeli diplomacy under Carter: the US, Israel and the Palestinians'' (Bloomsbury, 2018). * Mikhail, Mona. "Egyptian Americans." ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America,'' edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014, pp. 61–71)
online
* Mufti, Malik. "The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism." in ''The Middle East and the United States'' (Routledge, 2018) pp. 128–147. * Oren, Michael B. ''Power, faith, and fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the present'' (2008) * O'Sullivan, Christopher D. ''FDR and the End of Empire: The Origins of American Power in the Middle East'' (2012). * Weinbaum, Marvin G. ''Egypt and the politics of US economic aid'' (Routledge, 2019). * Yahel, Ido. "Covert Diplomacy Between Israel and Egypt During Nasser Rule: 1952-1970." ''SAGE Open'' 6.4 (2016): 2158244016667449
online
* Yaqub, Salim. ''Containing Arab nationalism: the Eisenhower doctrine and the Middle East'' (UNC Press Books, 2004).


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Egypt-United States relations
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
Bilateral relations of the United States