Sisi’s Egypt Has the Upper Hand Over Erdoğan’s Turkey

The foreign policy of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a combination of imperialism and Muslim Brotherhood sentiment, was most visible in his moves against Abdel Fattah Sisi’s Egypt. Ankara is beginning to recognize its folly. Will the new US administration learn from its mistake?

The Plight of Egyptians Living in Israel

Decades after the achievement of a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, the peace remains cold. Egypt continues to be institutionally hostile to Israel. Egyptian citizens who reside in Israel, be they students or small business owners or simply spouses of Israeli Arabs, face discrimination and suspicion at home.

Failure to Resolve the GERD Issue Portends a Global Crisis and Mass Migration

Despite Qatar’s use of information warfare to spread conspiracy theories about Israel’s alleged role in the Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia crisis over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Israel and the US can be of great assistance in devising mutually beneficial solutions for all parties and averting a global crisis and mass migration from Egypt and Sudan.

A Peace Treaty Is Not a License to Extort

For years, Egypt and Jordan have exploited their peace treaties with Israel as a tool of extortion to prevent Israel from pursuing its security and political interests.

Responses to Coronavirus Expose Governments’ Fault Lines

The failures of the Pakistani and Egyptian responses to the coronavirus crisis demonstrated that neither ultra-conservative science-rejecting worldviews nor self-serving autocratic policies aimed at regime enhancement produced initial prevention and mitigation strategies that could have blunted the impact of the disease.

The Problem of Egyptian Identity: A View from Within

Having toppled the Egyptian monarchy in the July 1952 coup d'état, the country’s new military rulers reshaped its identity. The Kingdom of Egypt became the Arab Republic of Egypt, moving farther toward pan-Arabism. This embrace of pan-Arab identity had far-reaching adverse consequences that stalled Egyptian progress while drastically affecting the way Egyptians see themselves, their neighbors, and the world.

A Geopolitical Crossfire: Al-Azhar Struggles to Balance Politics and Tradition

When Pope Francis I visited Egypt in 2017 to stimulate interfaith dialogue he walked into a religious and geopolitical minefield at the heart of which was Al-Azhar, one of the world’s oldest and foremost seats of Islamic learning. The pope’s visit took on added significance with Al-Azhar standing accused of promoting the kind of ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam that potentially creates an environment conducive to breeding extremism.

Ahead of the Bahrain Conference, Hamas Casts Its Lot with Iran

A week and a half ago, Hamas organized its weekly confrontation on the Gaza fence in honor of World Jerusalem Day, an event inaugurated by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 and celebrated since then primarily by Iran and its Hezbollah proxy. This move reflects the organization’s defiance of the Sunni Arab states, especially those who plan to attend the Trump-sponsored conference in Bahrain.

The US’s Middle East Strategy Might Be Fraying

Jonathan Ariel
May 21, 2019
Paper No. 1178

Egypt's withdrawal from the formation of an “Arab NATO” against Iran is a warning that both Israel and the US need to urgently rethink their strategy regarding the Middle East. Putting all its Arab World eggs in the Saudi basket could prove to be one of the more unsound decisions in the annals of American diplomatic history, and one that could profoundly affect Israel if it backfires.

Egypt and Iran Vie for Influence in Gaza

Yaakov Lappin
May 7, 2019
Paper No. 1166

While Cairo is exerting its influence in Gaza to avoid a new conflict and mediate a period of calm, Iran sees Gaza as one more base from which to grow and control a proxy terrorist army.