Is Egypt on the Way to Becoming a Regional Power?

By: LTC Ali Albedwawi, UAE MOD, CSAG CCJ5
25 Mar 2022

Overview:

Egypt’s geopolitical importance lies in being open to different geopolitical dimensions at the same time. It overlooks the North African region from the east, connects to the African depth from the north, Sinai allows it to connect with the Middle East and the Levant by land and sea through the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and it overlooks the Arabian Peninsula through the Red Sea. This positioning gives it options to take roles on more than one regional platform simultaneously. Egypt possesses natural resources, the most important of which are gas, oil, and cotton, and is considered one of the world’s richest countries with historical monuments, which qualifies it to occupy advanced ranks globally in terms of attracting tourists and consequently hard currencies. It also owns the Suez Canal, which generates regular income. Egypt is the largest in the Arab world in terms of population and possesses a military force not insignificant in terms of manpower and qualification. Considered one of the most important Arab countries, it is a great regional power and is distinguished by its strategic importance and has an effective role in the Arab region. Here, the same basic question arises: “Is Egypt a regional power?”

Key Points:

• Regional power is a term used to describe a country that has authority or power within a geographic area. Countries that exercise influence within a region of the world have and act with expressions not only of their own interests but, at least in principle, as representative of the region’s interests as well.
• Internal stability leads to external influence. During the period of President Sisi’s rule, Egypt succeeded in achieving internal stability and restoring its national identity.
• Egypt has adopted a clear foreign policy based on the principles of openness and balance to all regional and international powers in its foreign relations with other countries.
• Egypt follows a strategy that it does not accept spreading and exporting chaos in its neighborhoods, which is what it is working on hard within diplomatic policy and quiet contacts with neighboring countries.
• Seven years after the rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt turned into a regional power that controls the formulation of the region’s policies and protects its interests anywhere.
• The most important challenges facing Egypt, which are directly related to threatening its national security and internal stability, are related to the Libyan crisis, the Renaissance Dam crisis, and human rights issues.

Read the complete paper here.