Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations

This report provides an overview of Egyptian politics and current issues in U.S.- Egyptian relations. It briefly provides a political history of modern Egypt, an overview of its political institutions, and a discussion of the prospects for democratization in Egypt. This report will be updated regularly. U.S. policy toward Egypt is aimed at maintaining regional stability, improving bilateral relations, continuing military cooperation, and sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Successive Administrations have long viewed Egypts leaders as a moderating influence in the Middle East, though in recent years, there have been increasing U.S. calls for Egypt to democratize. Congressional views of U.S.-Egyptian relations vary. Many lawmakers view Egypt as a stabilizing force in the region, but some Members would like the United States to pressure Egypt to implement political reforms, improve its human rights record, and take a more active role in reducing Arab-Israeli tensions. Egypt and the United States agree on the importance of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the need to continue current Arab-Israel peace talks. Egypt attended the recent peace conference in Annapolis and responded positively to the meeting. In 2005, Egypt sent 750 Egyptian soldiers to the Egypt-Gaza border in order to prevent weapons smuggling following Israel s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Hamas s takeover of the Gaza Strip would seem to pose a challenge for Egypt and its border security efforts. 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 is to reduce Economic Support Funds ESF to about 400 million per year by FY2008 in keeping with a plan to reduce economic aid to both Israel and Egypt. The Administration requested 415 million in economic grants and 1.3 billion in military grants for FY2008 for Egypt.