Egypt's Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis

Ahmed Aboul Gheit

Description

• Written by a senior statesman who was very high up in the Mubarak government


• Full of small firsthand details that reveal much about how Egypt’s foreign affairs and the executive machinery are run


• Includes anecdotal detail about many politicians, including Amre Moussa, Condoleezza Rice, Omar Suleiman, etc.

Foreword Francis J. Ricciardone

Introduction

1. The Assignment

2. Upbringing and Preparation

3. Understanding the Situation and the General Framework for Action

4. Challenges and Responses: The United States

5. Challenge and Confrontation: Attempt to Expand the Security Council

6. The Nile River: Challenge and Attempt to Reach an Agreement

7. Challenges of Division: Sudan

8. Challenges of Sustaining Status: Egypt and Africa

9. Egypt and the Challenges of the Arab World

10. Egypt and the Challenges of the Region

11. Challenges of Expanding the Framework of the Egyptian Movement: Egypt and the World

12. Challenges of the Peaceful Settlement

13. Challenges of the Final Forty-five Days

Conclusion: Challenges of the Past and the Future

Index

Sujets

• Treaties
• International Relations
• Political Science
• Political
• Middle Eastern
• HISTORY
• Egipto
• Diplomacy
• Israel
• Egypt
• Iraq
• Comparative politics
• Hosni Mubarak
• Treaty
• Politics
• Middle East
• Palestine
• World
• Diplomatie (homonymie)
• Irak
• Mohammed Hosni Moubarak
• 11

Informations

• Publié par: The American University in Cairo Press
• Date de parution: 07 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781617979712
• Langue: English

Extrait

EGYPT’S FOREIGN POLICY IN TIMES OF CRISIS
EGYPT’S FOREIGN POLICY IN TIMES OF CRISIS
My Testimony

AHMED ABOUL GHEIT






The American University in Cairo Press Cairo New York
This electronic edition published in 2020 by The American University in Cairo Press 113 Sharia Kasr el Aini, Cairo, Egypt One Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 www.aucpress.com

Copyright © 2020 by Nahdet Misr Publishing House First published in Arabic in 2013 by Nahdet Misr as Shahadati: al-siyasa al-kharijiya al-misriya, 2004–2011

English translation copyright © 2020 by the American University in Cairo Press

Translated by Abeer Mustafa and Wafya Ibrahim Translation revised by Mohamed Helal

English translation supported by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 978 977 416 960 1 eISBN 978 161 797 971 2

Version 1
To Laila,
My dearest and most loyal friend, the one who sincerely criticized, praised from the heart, and always supported me. Smiling and optimistic Laila who did her very best to raise the two precious jewels in our lives, my sons Kamal and Ali. Laila, the one who made me a proud father.
To you, my life companion, my dear wife, I dedicate this book.
CONTENTS
Foreword to the English Edition Francis J. Ricciardone
Introduction
1. The Assignment
2. Upbringing and Preparation
3. Understanding the Situation and the General Framework for Action
4. Challenges and Responses: The United States
5. Challenge and Confrontation: An Attempt to Expand the Security Council
6. The Nile River: Challenges and Attempts to Reach an Understanding
7. Challenges of Sustaining Status: Egypt and Africa
8. Challenges of Division: Sudan
9. Egypt and the Challenges of the Arab World
10. Egypt and the Challenges of the Region
11. Challenges of Expanding the Framework of the Egyptian Movement: Egypt and the World
12. Challenges of a Peaceful Settlement
13. Challenges of the Final Forty-five Days
Conclusion: Challenges of the Past and the Future
FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
Francis J. Ricciardone
President, The American University in Cairo
I first met Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the Fairmont Hotel near Cairo International Airport in late January 1999, on the first stop of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s tour of the Middle East to introduce me as the new “Special Coordinator for the Transition of Iraq.” My appointment represented the Clinton Administration’s response to the strong bipartisan Congressional intent, as expressed in the “Iraq Liberation Act” of October 1998, to use overt diplomatic means to “remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime.” The Clinton Administration was well aware of the Arab world’s wariness of such a proposition, and it approached that proclaimed objective with due sobriety.
Aboul Gheit was about to deploy to New York as Egypt’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the next jewel in the crown of an illustrious career in his country’s diplomatic corps. He listened intently to Secretary Albright’s explanation of my role before focusing his questions on the ramifications for Egypt. His skepticism was as penetrating as his courtesy was unshakable.
This stage is worth setting because it illustrates the relative roles and self-concepts of the Egyptians and Americans in world affairs at that point in their modern histories. Engaging with the world’s preeminent power at the height of its fin de siècle influence, Aboul Gheit personified both his country’s confidence in its weight in world affairs and its war-weary historical perspective on their dynamics.
Egypt’s Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis: My Testimony reveals Aboul Gheit’s thinking behind his mission as foreign minister only a few years following that fateful unilateral American initiative to intervene in shaping the future of this turbulent and complicated region. His career as a leading Egyptian statesman was approaching its climax just as the age of Egyptian giants of war and peace—Nasser and Sadat—was rapidly receding. Yet even then, the United States, at the height of its influence, took no steps in the broader region without at least checking in with Egypt. The country was the dominant political, military, and cultural leader of the Arab world, enjoying a historical phase of economic advancement borne of sustained domestic stability and regional peace.
The book brings the English reader behind the curtain of Egyptian statecraft—an apparatus historically capably staffed but also traditionally dominated by the vision and will of the head of state. Aboul Gheit’s rejection of the idea that foreign ministers or a “deep state” drove Egyptian foreign policy is based not on modesty but on the reality that he portrays. In a government so centralized and so dependent on the President, Aboul Gheit explains, the foreign minister and other related departments were merely “executors in this realm.” Successful foreign ministers were those whom the President fully trusted—and who were humble enough to shun credit for their accomplishments. This historical and political context makes Aboul Gheit’s own professional accomplishments, even if often rearguard or defensive efforts, stand in sharper relief.
Whether in New York or Cairo, some Western counterparts found Aboul Gheit’s approach aggressive. Those who understood and respected his authentically Egyptian historical and nationalist perspective, however, found him a disciplined, willing, and creative problem manager, when the parties were not otherwise able to resolve problems with finality. As the United States ambassador to Egypt during several years of Aboul Gheit’s lengthy tenure as foreign minister, I was privileged to observe firsthand how his deep patriotism, scholarly appreciation of history, and confidence in his country’s identity and historical role, invariably shaped his dealings with foreign counterparts. Aboul Gheit was unrelenting in upholding President Mubarak’s vision of Egypt’s national interests as well as Egyptians’ keen sense of national dignity. Their direct experience of war and peace with Israel, and of the United States’ roles in both, contrasted with the indirect historical knowledge and often ideologically driven decision-making of the Americans. By contrast, Aboul Gheit’s and Mubarak’s direct dealings with Israeli counterparts were qualitatively different, even if cooler: they shared with their erstwhile enemies the searing experiential affinities both of all-out war and often vexatious peace. In all his dealings with foreigners as I observed them, Aboul Gheit appeared instinctively to reflect the outlooks and sentiments of the great mass of his countrymen, at all levels of education.
Since leaving office as Egypt’s foreign minister in the aftermath of the national upheaval of 201 1 , Aboul Gheit’s patriotism, erudition, intelligence, and personal discipline continue as always to characterize his long career of public service, now as secretary general of the League of Arab States. His story offers essential insights for contemporary and future generations of foreign diplomats, scholars, businesspeople, and all who seek to deal mutually successfully with Egyptian counterparts. Theirs is a courteous, welcoming, and seductive country. This book, however, bears witness nonetheless to Egypt’s tenacity, even ruthlessness, in the pursuit of its national interests as Egyptian leaders proclaim them.
As one of the very few firsthand accounts in English of service near the pinnacle of Egyptian statecraft, Aboul Gheit’s memoir is compelling and exceptionally important. The American University in Cairo Press is honored to bring to an English readership this provocative, personal testimony of a leading Arab statesman, as part of our educational mission to advance mutual understanding across barriers of culture, language, history, and geography.
INTRODUCTION
W ith the historic day of the October 6, 1973 approaching, I realized the need to record everything that I witnessed at the time, so that I could write about that period later on. I was inspired to do so by my readings, over many years, of the writings of historical figures, including generals, political leaders, ministers of defense and foreign affairs, and even ordinary soldiers who fought for their countries. Those figures journaled on a daily basis. They recorded their ideas and evaluated the strategies that their countries implemented in the wars they waged, and kept track of battles that were fought during these wars, traced the conflicts among the peoples and ideologies of their time. Back then, I predicted that the impending war would definitely leave its imprint on the history of Egypt, the region as a whole, and the world. Hence, I decided to record everything I witnessed, as well as my thoughts, starting from October 5. I kept all my papers and documents for later use, I chronicled my reflections and conclusions about the unfolding events, and worked hard to ensure that my recollections of that period were intact in my mem