After 40 years of ‘special’ relations with US, Egypt is going East

US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel at a military parade in Cairo on April 24. Photo/FILE 

By FRED OLUOCH, Special Correspondent

In Summary

• The country is ‘merely rebalancing its foreign policies and expanding its horizon to cover other global players’.

Egypt has embarked on a dramatic foreign policy shift from over 40 years of special relations with the United States by diversifying diplomatic contacts with other powers like Russia and China.

Government officials maintain that Egypt is not seeking to abandon nearly 40 years of special relationship with the US and embrace Moscow, but is diversifying its relations in a new foreign policy approach that requires the country to engage new players in the world.

Dr Badr Abdelatty, Egyptian assistant minister and Director of Diplomacy, said that since the first revolution of February 2011 that removed former president Hosni Mubarak, the country was engrossed in managing domestic affairs, eroding Egypt’s historical and diplomatic position in the world.

“For over 35 years, we have only relied on the US but now we will continue with the same relations based on mutual interests and equal partnership,” said Dr Abdelatty.

He added that Egypt is merely rebalancing its foreign policy in light of the “two revolutions” and expanding the country’s horizon to cover other global players like China, India, Brazil and Japan.

But analysts say that serious concerns emerged during the 2011 protests against Mubarak, when the US administration tried to maintain a delicate balance between protecting its then close ally and its commitment to Egyptians’ aspirations and demands for greater democracy.

In October, the US suspended part of its annual $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt in protest against the crackdown on protests by the Muslim Brotherhood, who still maintains that Morsy remains the democratically elected president of Egypt.

In a visit to Cairo early November, US Secretary of State John Kerry downplayed the decision by his country to tie its future aid to democratic transition, arguing that it was not a punishment but conceding that the move was bound to be opposed in some quarters.

Egypt has long been the second largest recipient of US aid, after Israel, with America donating to Cairo an annual sum of $1.3 billion since 1979.

In mid November, Russian defence and foreign ministers visited Cairo for high-level discussion on the upgrading of bilateral relations and possible arms deals with Egypt.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with Egyptian Defence Minister and military chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, to negotiate Russian arms sales worth up to $4 billion, including MiG-29 fighter planes, air defence systems, and anti-tank missiles.

One of the signs of the warming up of Cairo-Moscow warming up relations is that the giant guided-missile cruiser Varyag docked in Alexandria for the first visit by a Russian warship to Egypt since 1972, when then President Anwar Sadat expelled thousands of Soviet military advisers in favour of peace with Israel and a military partnership with the US.

Diplomats argue that Russia could be taking advantage of what is seen as inconsistent US policy in the Arab world ever since the demonstrations started in Tunisia in December 2010 and led to the ouster of long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

Although the US has not come out openly to term the ousting of Morsy as a coup like Turkey and Qatar, Egyptian authorities noted Washington’s lukewarm response to the protests against Morsy in July, only maintaining that relations with Egypt are based on security co-operation with the US and Israel — neither of which are seen to be in danger.

But Egyptian ambassador to Kenya Kadri Abdelmottaleb told The EastAfrican that relations between Egypt and Russia have never withered from the time of the Cold War, when the former USSR which provided Egypt with weaponry and military advice through the three wars with neighbouring Israel