Doaa El-Bey looks at Egypt post-revolution diplomacy Egyptian diplomacy was in resurgence during the months following the 25 January Revolution. A partial breakthrough in the Nile Basin water problem; taking the initiative to normalise relations with Tehran; trying to end the closure of the Rafah border, the gateway to Gaza; and a conclusion of a reconciliation agreement between the two main Palestinians factions Fatah and Hamas were all trailblazing attempts at changing Egypt's global outlook after the collapse of the regime of Hosni Mubarak. Except for a trip to Africa by Mohamed Kamel Amr, the fourth foreign minister since the start of the revolution, there were no significant diplomatic moves. The dramatic change in Egypt's foreign policy started in March last year when Nabil El-Arabi became Egypt first post-revolution foreign minister, replacing Ahmed Abul-Gheit. A new policy aimed to establish good and balanced relations with all powers in the region, and gave special attention to Africa especially the Nile Basin states. It also took the popular will of the people into account. Mahmoud Shukri, a diplomat and writer, described the Foreign Ministry as a "diplomatic and political place" that does not draw up policies; it only implements them. However, he added the foreign minister can take part in determining foreign policy or presenting suggestions to decision- makers. "Foreign ministers like Ismail Fahmi and Amr Moussa made an impact on foreign policy when they were in office. El-Arabi would have had a great impact had he been given the time. It was a loss to the Foreign Ministry that he did not stay long," Shukri told Al-Ahram Weekly. Establishing balanced relations with African states -- especially Nile Basin countries -- was the most important challenge facing Egypt's foreign policy after the revolution. The previous regime ignored its relations with Africa in general for two decades. As a result, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a pact on the Nile water in the Ugandan capital Entebbe in May 2010 which guaranteed a fairer distribution of Nile water among the five states and deprived Egypt of a large portion of its water quota and the right to veto building dams on the Nile Basin. The five signatories gave other Nile Basin countries a year to join the pact before putting it into action. Sudan and Egypt dismissed the new deal while Congo and Burundi initially refused to sign. Burundi later penned the accord. To avoid a conflict over water, post-revolution Egypt started with popular diplomacy as the first step towards improving long-neglected relations. An Egyptian delegation which included presidential candidates, representatives from various political parties and movements, independent politicians, previous members of parliament, journalists, public figures and representatives from youth groups who launched the revolution managed to postpone the ratification of the new pact after a meeting with Ugandan officials in April and Ethiopian officials in May. Popular diplomacy was shortly followed by then prime minister Essam Sharaf's visit to Ethiopia and Uganda in May which opened a new chapter in ties with the Nile Basin states. The most important achievement of Sharaf's visit was the formation of a committee of Egyptian, Sudanese and Ethiopian experts to study the effects of the Millennium Dam to be built in Ethiopia which would allow the flow of Nile water to Sudan and Egypt. Tension between Egypt and Ethiopia increased when Ethiopia declared it was building the dam on its land, claiming it would not affect the water flow or amount to Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi visited Cairo in September, highlighting the positive impact of his talks with Sharaf and emphasised that the River Nile could be a bridge rather than a barrier to warm ties between the two states. Exchanging official visits was a good step, according to Shukri but should be followed by creating mutual interests, common visions and ways to achieve these interests and visions. Attempting to play a more supportive role towards easing the suffering of the Palestinians was part and parcel of the new Egyptian foreign policy. In May, El-Arabi announced the imminent and permanent reopening of the Rafah Crossing with Gaza, describing the blockade as "shameful". He said "important steps" to ease the blockade would start in the following days. Egypt made the move in the hope of improving its image and enhancing its relations with Gaza. Since 2006, the Rafah Crossing had only been open for humanitarian cases and students. However, just one week after the Rafah Crossing was opened for Palestinians and after hundreds of Palestinians passed through it both ways, it unexpectedly closed its doors. Disagreements permeated between the two sides concerning the capacity and coordination of the crossing, and the condition on which visas could be granted. Neither Egypt nor Hamas gave any explanation why the border crossing was opened before a prior agreement was reached on all pertinent issues. According to an agreement signed in November 2005, the Palestinian Authority monitored by EU observers and Egypt were responsible for monitoring the crossing from its side of the border. When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2006, EU monitors suspended their mission and Egypt closed its side of the border. Ever since, Israel has imposed a tight blockade on Gaza. Another breakthrough in the Palestinian issue came in the same month when Palestinian officials confirmed that President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal would meet in Cairo to sign a reconciliation agreement. The agreement provided for a unity government bringing together the two main Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, and holding parliamentary and presidential elections within a year. Egypt's successful mediation of a Palestinian reconciliation deal was followed by Egypt's attempt to improve its relations with Iran. The question of Egypt's relationship with Iran came to the fore in March when El-Arabi argued that Cairo should turn over a new page in its ties with Tehran. The declaration was followed by the visit of a number of delegations to Iran including a popular diplomacy team that comprised Al-Azhar professors, media figures like TV talk show host Wael El-Ibrashi, and representatives of the Coptic community. The delegation met senior officials, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A possible rapprochement between Egypt and Iran alarmed Arab Gulf states worried about increasing Iranian influence in the Gulf. By visiting some Gulf states, Sharaf tried to improve relations with the Gulf and assure its leaders that any improvement in Egypt's relations with Iran would not be at their expense. Sharaf visited Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in May and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in July. The visits aimed to foster bilateral relations and boost trade and investment cooperation. They also came at a time when Egypt was looking to raise money to finance the country's budget deficit for this fiscal year. Mohamed El-Orabi, El-Arabi's successor, made a statement similar to Sharaf's about the importance of Gulf security to Egypt during his participation in the African summit held in Equatorial Guinea in June. El-Orabi was selected to succeed El-Arabi after the latter became head the Arab League. El-Orabi expressed happiness that an African country was his first destination as foreign minister, which he said was a focus of Egypt's foreign policy. But given that he stayed in his post for less than a month, El-Orabi did not have time to take any significant steps or build upon El-Arabi's achievements. El-Orabi was followed by Mohamed Kamel Amr, the fourth foreign minister since the revolution, who tried to open more doors of cooperation with Nile Basin states during visits to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, DR Congo, Sudan and South Sudan. The visit was part of Egypt's effort to develop bilateral relations at both the political and economic levels, and boost investment and increase trade with the African states in the hope of lobbying for a greater share of Nile water. Amr emphasised to South SudanEgypt's plans to increase developmental support to the newly independent state. His visit came shortly after the Egyptian government offered to mediate between Sudan and South Sudan to resolve outstanding issues between the two sides. South Sudan seceded from the north in July last year, after which relations became extremely tense between the two neighbours because of disagreements over a wide range of issues, particularly oil, borders and the region of Abyei. The first year that followed the revolution witnessed serious attempts to resolve the Nile water problem and reinforce Egypt's ties with the Gulf, Iran, the Palestinians and Israel. The year ahead will most likely see more efforts to resolve the issues.
