Domestic Challenges and Egypt’s U.S. Policy

When high-ranking U.S. and Egyptian delegations met in Washington in July 1998 to hold their annual strategic dialogue meeting, Rajeb al-Ban’a, a veteran Egyptian journalist, called the session, “A dialogue between the great power of the world and the [great] power of the Middle East and Africa region and Egypt makes this claim with her back straight and her head held high.” 1

Egypt has sought to approach its relationship with the United States in this spirit of equality and the assertion of its own importance. This attitude, and the status of U.S.–Egypt relations, has often emerged from Egypt’s own self-image, domestic needs, and internal politics.