President Mubarak's Washington visit marks a new period of cooperation between the US and Egypt, to the benefit of the entire Middle East region, writes Abdel-Moneim El-Mashat* US-Egyptian strategic interactions underwent alternate waves of cooperation and tension in the last 30 years. However, during the second term of former US president George W Bush, relations were cold and puzzling due to the different foreign policy stands between the countries regarding both bilateral and regional issues. This might explain why President Hosni Mubarak did not visit the US during the last five years while he was very keen to annually consult former US presidents in Washington concerning regional strategic issues. There was always bilateral understanding between the two countries concerning their national interests, their positions regarding critical regional questions such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional tensions. However, Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq, his unlimited bias towards Israel and his attempt to interfere in Egyptian domestic political affairs angered, to a great extent, the Egyptian leadership. It seems that the strategic dialogue between the two countries was interrupted for some time, though it was extremely important in creating an environment conducive to regional stability and peace. With the new Democratic administration in Washington and its declared intention to implement soft power rather than hard power in conducting its foreign policy, to build a relationship based on partnership and mutual respect and to improve its foreign policy positions regarding issues related to the Arabs and Muslims, the environment has become encouraging to President Mubarak to visit Washington and energise the strategic dialogue with President Obama. The two presidents discussed first and foremost ways and means to promote bilateral relations in strategic, economic and political domains. In addition, both presidents discussed, in detail, how to come up with new initiatives capable of getting both the Israelis and the Palestinians on the right track. It is worth mentioning that there is a drastic change in the international system from unipolarity, where the US was on top, to multipolarity based on a partnership between the US, China, Russia, and the European Union. That change offers regional powers such as Egypt, India, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and others a rare opportunity to play a larger role in determining and building a regional environment susceptible to peace and cooperation. It also pushes the five great powers to compete in recruiting and collaborating with central regional powers in its regions. Here comes the significance of the role of Egypt in the Middle East and Arab regions and also the importance of reinstating the strategic dialogue with the US regarding both bilateral and regional issues. It is true that Egypt wants to expand its trade relations with the US, in the form of increasing exports to the American market, and benefit from Egypt's positive economic growth, which exceeds four per cent while it is below zero in the US. Egypt also wants to benefit from technological and scientific revolution in the US to develop through partnerships its underdeveloped education system, especially in the area of research and development. In the meantime, Egypt is eager to get as much as possible from the US in areas of environment and healthcare. In this regard, the issue of US aid to Egypt, as sensitive as it is, should be put into the right perspective. The annual reduction of US aid is already known to the Egyptian government as its economy is growing positively. However, there is consensus between the two countries that it should not be used with any political strings, especially intervention in Egyptian internal affairs. The Obama administration has decided from the beginning that it will not use the democratisation argument in the same way George W Bush wielded it, where he agitated and isolated Arab leaders with no improvement in that process. On the regional level, there is no doubt that the extremist Israeli government presents a real impediment to the peace process and regional stability. In the meantime, Obama's commitment to the two-state solution and his call on the Israelis to freeze settlements has no weight in Israel. Moreover, it looks very unrealistic from him to ask Arab leaders to normalise their relations with Israel as an incentive to the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinians. This contradicts with the Israeli announced strategy to change the state of Israel from a Jewish state where non-Jews could reside in it, to a state for Jews only. This announcement suggests the expulsion of Israeli- Arabs who form at least 25 per cent of the Israeli population. Were it to take place, this would be a clear case of ethnic and religious cleansing. It would also mean the transformation of the Arab- Israeli conflict, a protracted conflict as it is, into unresolved religious and ethnic conflict. In this regard, I believe that President Mubarak's visit to the US plays a major role in rationalising US bias towards Israel in the hope that it will come up with even-handed initiative including the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The renewal of Egyptian-US strategic dialogue regarding both bilateral and regional issues builds a strong base for regional stability, which is important for all nations whether developed or developing. To reach that goal, both countries are keen to combat terrorism and extremism without going to open war, which is highly expensive, both financially and politically. There are expectations that after the Washington Summit between the two presidents more global collaboration against terrorism will take place. This is important because the Middle East and the Arab world are the most vulnerable regions in this regard. * The writer is professor of political science at Cairo University.
