User talk:AudioSkillz

The Foreign Policy of Egypt Post Mubarak and Morsi
Contents

1.	Introduction

2.	Definition of Foreign Policy & Egypt’s Foreign Policy

2.1.	Actors of Foreign Policy

2.2.	How Mubarack came to power & his demise

3.	The Political System in Egypt

4.	The Context of Egyptian Politics

4.1.	Political Culture

4.2.	Political Economy

5.	Egypt under Morsi

5.1.	Morsi Foreign Policy

6.	Conclusion

7.	Bibliography

1.	Introduction Egypt, one of the oldest nations in the world that goes as far back as 7000 years, has faced imperialism and colonialism from the French, British, Turks and Arabs. A country well positioned which connects easily with the Middle-East and Europe, giving it a diverse economy. Over the past five years Egyptian politics has faced two revolutions and for the first time in many years, there has been mobilisation of new generation leaders that removed one of the longest standing President’s Hosni Mubarak and the first democratically civilian elected President Muhammed Morsi. The foreign policy of Egypt is discussed in this academic script as well as to understand its historical transformations and future of the post-Mubarak and post-Morsi state.

2.	Definition of Foreign Policy & Egypt’s Foreign Policy A government needs some sort of policy which serves as a guideline to managing its domestic and international affairs, be them social and economic. A foreign policy is known as the strategy of the government which is used to deal with other nations, it consists of the self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests for the sake of achieving its international goals. However, the decisions made on foreign policy are all made by the human decision-maker, be it the Head of State or the Minister of Foreign Relations.

According to Smith et al (2012): The concept of foreign policy is derived from the concept and process of policy, the latter referring essentially to the decisions and key priorities as determined by the decision makers of a state. Foreign policy is regarded as an extension of domestic policy, the one starts where the other ends. It then follows that foreign policy refers to a strategy or planned course of action pursued by the decision-makers of a state vis-à-vis other states or entities in the international environment. National interest sits at the core of the making of foreign policy. The state needs to safe guard its own interests while safe guarding those of the people. National interest could be a state seeking democracy, maximizing multilateral ties with other states, acquiring aid from First World countries or First World countries seeking particular resources from Third World countries (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2012).

In a country like Egypt, culture and history play an important role shaping its socio-political ecosystem, that also being its foreign policy. Egypt was once the political and economic powerhouse, owing to the actors of its foreign policy and that it was a country with much foreign occupation. Its foreign policy has evolved over the last few decades and too has shown a decline in the power the well positioned state had.

Much of Egypt’s foreign policy has changed over the past few years since the Tahrir Revolution, where the most of the youth of the Egypt mobilised to forcefully remove former President Hosni Mubarak (Ozkan, 2011). The current stance of Egypt’s foreign policy is more directed at regaining its political influence in Africa and in the Middle-East, first in Africa, by seeking diplomatic measures with dealing with inter-state issues, establishing a democratically elected parliament and President, and finally ensuring that its foreign policy is the reflection of its people, is in line with its interests and national security, with no regard to any other consideration (El-Adawy, 2013: internet).

2.1.	Actors of Foreign Policy According to Khadiagala and Lyons (2001: 1) what foreign policy makers do is that they attempt to reconcile domestic interests with external circumstances, taking account of the available means, resources, and institutions for doing so. In Africa these actors are made up of the elite, organisations such as the United Nations (OAU) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) (Khadiagala and Lyons, 2001: 4). Of the most important organisations that exist, “the OAU was established to give meaning to Africa’s collective action in matters of internal economic development and liberation from colonial regimes in southern Africa. Over time, as some states strove for pre-eminence in intra-African relations, the OAU emerged as a forum for leadership competition (Khadiagala and Lyons, 2001: 4). It should be known that the presence of actors and certain structures in the designing and implementation of foreign policy is indeed crucial. The most important actors for making foreign policy decisions as well as structuring them are heads of state, head of government, foreign ministers or secretaries of state, politburos, parliaments, parliamentary committees, political parties, and so forth (Smith, Hadfield & Dunne, 2012: 114). Assessing the foreign policy actors during the Mubarak regime, for instance, in Egypt, the actors responsible for foreign policy and decision-making is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Presidential Office, the National Democratic Party (NDP), The Islamist Establishment, The Military, The Bureaucracy, The Parliament and The Courts (Palmer, 2001: 64). After Mubarak’s regime was toppled, a new party came to power which replaced the NDP, the Muslim Brotherhood (Morsi), only to be removed by the Military and the citizens.

2.2.	How Mubarack came to power & his demise For Hosni Mubarack to come into power, it was the result of the assassination of the former President Sadat, and he was handpicked by Sadat as his successor (Palmer, 2001: 195). Serving as the fourth President of Egypt for the second longest time of almost thirty years, it took just eighteen days of demonstrations in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. As a former Deputy-President and Air Chief Marshal within the Egyptian Air Force, like his predecessors, he takes on a militant style to governance, as a democratic Egypt was never reached under his rule, and his striving for a hereditary pseudo-monarchy - the strategic positioning of a President to place his son in line to be the next President without a democratic election – too was the cause of his demise (Ozkan, 2011). The people of Egypt yearned for Freedom and did not want the NDP to serve another term nor any Minister of Parliament.

3.	The Political System in Egypt The political system of Egypt is composed of three branches which serves as a framework by which various parts of government assign roles and execute policies structured by Parliament as effectively as possible during their tenure. They work for the people, serving their self-interests first before those of the national interest.

First is the Executive Branch, is composed of the Presidency and the Cabinet. “The President has also been given extensive legislative powers and is the arbitrator between the three branches. The executive, legislative and judicial” (Fahmy, 2002: 45). Being the head of government of the party in a multiparty election system, the National Democratic Party, which dominates the parliament by Article 150 of the Constitution of 1980, the President as it states becomes the High Commander of the Armed Forces (Fahmy, 2002: 45). The Cabinet on the other hand is headed by the Prime Minister who supervises the implementation of the public policies of the state (Fahmy, 2002: 46). Under Egyptian Law, even though there is a possibility of the President and the Prime Minister, or between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the President will have the last say on policymaking and implementation (Fahmy, 2002: 46).

Second is the Legislative Branch, it is composed of the Legislative Authority of the People’s Assembly and the Control Authority of the Legislative Assembly. Under the Legislative Branch, Article 86 of the constitution of the People’s Assembly is empowered with legislative authority and must approve the public policies of the state, the economic and social development plan and the general budget (Fahmy, 2002: 46). What needs to be highlighted is that the People’s Assembly has control over the executive branch and the Prime Ministers and have the right to question and oppose policies, for instance.

However, there is some weakness faced by the People’s Assembly, which is its control function over the executive, and this weakness can be associated with the overwhelming dominance of the ruling NDP in the parliament at the time (Fahmy, 2002: 51). To add on, the weakness of the legislative assembly is also reflected in the limited role that the People’s Assembly plays in approving international agreements despite the fact that Article 151 of the constitution makes parliamentary approval conditional for the acceptance and finalisation of agreements (Fahmy, 2002: 52).

Lastly, the Judiciary, includes both the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) and the Administrative and the Supreme Emergency Court. There is much contradiction in the way that the constitution states how the country should be governed and as well what the President and his Cabinet do, this being evident under the rule of Mubarak. The Supreme Constitutional Court is supposed to be an independent judicial body which has no political influence, but the President is the one who chooses the head of the SCC, which contradicts its independence (Fahmy, 2002: 54). The Administrative Court and the Supreme Emergency Court are both independent judicial bodies, they too refuse to be ruled by government and have tried as much as possible to have their court rulings to the executive be taken into action, but have failed (Fahmy, 2002: 56). 4.	The Context of Egyptian Politics

“In addition to its institutions and actors, Egypt’s politics are profoundly influenced by the cultural, economics, and international environments. All have contributed to the immobility of the Mubarak regime, some by impeding change and others by forcing a more rapid pace of change than the system can bear” (Palmer: 2007: 82).

4.1.	Political Culture There are three important aspects of Egypt’s political culture which impact significantly on the country’s politics, especially under the Mubarak Regime. These attributes have are still evident post-Mubarak. First is Islam. As a state closely affiliated to the Eastern countries, the values of Islam carry much weight in policy-making and taking on policy decisions (Palmer, 2007: 82). Secondly, with an uncertain possibility of reaching democratic status, riots are inevitable for the once ostracised state. With much foreign domination over the decades, it was believed that the people were incapable of ever overthrowing the government, giving the Mubarak regime much control over the people before the Tahrir Revolution (Ozkan, 2011). And lastly, the vast amount of distrust between the government and the people (Palmer, 2007: 83). The people unified as religious communities for protection and attainment of resources, as opposed to the West where people unify into political communities and civil society and demand – through public demonstrations – that the government provide such for them (Palmer, 2007: 83).

4.2.	Political Economy The influence of the economy as compared to the influence of culture on politics in Egypt is equally pervasive. It must be dually noted that capitalism was eagerly taken on under the Mubarak regime, from socialism has also resulted in a major imbalance on the distribution of wealth and the growing gap between the rich and the poor, but for there to be socio-economic stability in the state they need to withstand the bridging gap and secure enough investment over time for the jobs and skills to mature and become a fixed investment guaranteeing an improvement in the lives of the Egyptian citizens (Palmer, 2007: 84). However, “out of realism or caution, the Mubarak regime has been disinclined to rush the pace of economic reform, rather, the regime has attempted to walk a fine line between providing enough reform to stimulate the Egyptian economy while simultaneously keeping mass in check by maintaining what is left of the social construct” (Palmer, 2007: 83). As noticed, economic reforms are desired for the prosperity of a state, but for the Mubarak regime, this will cause imbalance and let them to eventually lose control of the state, seen as a threat.

5.	Egypt under Morsi Mohamed Morsi is not only the fifth President of Egypt, but he is the first of all statesmen to be elected into the position through a democratic election. His predecessors have a history of being involved in rigging the election and there was always some form of irregularity involved in the election process (Ozdemir & Haddad, 2013: internet). However, he is the only one out of all his predecessors to have the shortest term, which lasted for a year from June 2012 to July 2013. He was removed from office by the military of Egypt who had given Morsi a forty-eight hour window to restore stability in Egypt as there was unrest and the people wanted him to be removed, and this was done by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Egypt (AhramOnline, 2014: internet).

5.1.	Morsi Foreign Policy Egypt’s foreign policy under Morsi did not see much change as it framework still reflected that of Mubarak. For Egypt to rise as a nation post-Mubarak, it had to draft a new and ideal constitution, one that gives authority to the President and not the Military and one that will protect the civil rights of the people as well as reflect the Islam Law (Fleishman, 2012: internet). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Egypt was once a key player and played a prominent role in shaping the nation’s foreign policy, but the uprising of 2011 put a stop to the re-emergence of the MFA as a key player in shaping Egyptian foreign policy on the most important portfolios (El-Adawy, 2013: internet).

“Under the Muslim Brotherhood regime, disastrous trends emerged in Egypt’s foreign policy. While the President Muhammed Morsi did not take any major steps that directly affected relations with the United States or Israel in the immediate term, he was planting seeds for a drastic shift in the country’s foreign policy orientation and operation” (El-Adawy, 2013: internet). Before accepting his new role as the President of Egypt, Morsi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and resigned on the day. To onlookers, it seemed that the democratically elected statesman would not bring in as much Islam influence on the turnaround strategies for the government, but Islam Law prevailed the most on the political front. “The Brotherhood’s exclusion of established state institutions and experienced policymakers resulted in a foreign policy that was impulsive, internally contradictory, and well-nigh incomprehensible (El-Adawy, 2013: internet).

It is observed that the influence of the Brotherhood on Egypt’s Foreign Policy is not one that seeks to protect and procure the national (security) interests of Egypt, but to work against the state and disempower its citizens and state.

5.2.	The Future of Egypt Post-Morsi To determine if the future of Egypt post-Morsi is going to be an optimistic one, one needs to understand whether Islam and Democracy are compatible. The Muslim Brotherhood has proved to be a threat against the Egypt as it does not desire it to be a democratic state, and the Brotherhood could face complete annihilation. Observing the future of Egypt in another perspective, in order to have a healthy transformation in Egypt, new generation of leaders are required to tackle and focus on social dynamics, if they seek for a long-term change in the society, and these social dynamics are the movement of people and money (Ozkan, 2011: 14). The revolution proved that the power of Egypt lies with the youth of the nation and these new generation leaders are just discovering Egypt. Egypt needs to open up itself to the people and to the rest of Africa, with its triple historical identity dilemma, it needs to find a coherent balance between its Arab, Africa and European ties (Ozkan, 2011: 15). Its choices in foreign policy will determine its success as a country.

As a country that has endured two revolutions in a short space of time, Egypt has to rework on its constitution and foreign policy. But with its foreign policy it has to strengthen the domestic policies before it embarks on reforming or forming new international relations. What the people of Egypt have shown other Middle-East states is that authoritarian rule will be under threat for the years to come, and one day there will be a Democratic Middle-East. As the next democratic elections near, the party elected into power will have the fate of Egypt in its hands, but the citizens will not allow for another Mubarack or Morsi ruler to rule again.
 * 1) 6.	Conclusion

Fahmy, N.S., 2002. The Politics of Egypt – State-Society Relationship. RoutledgeCurzon, New York. Khadiagala, G.M. and Lyons, T., 2001. African Foreign Policies – Power & Process. Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc., Colorado. Palmer, M., 2007. The Politics of the Middle East – Second Edition. Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont. Smith, S., Hadfield, A., & Dunne, T. 2012. Foreign Policy: Theories, Actors, Cases. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. El-Adawy, A. 2013. Egypt’s Evolving Foreign Policy. www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/egypts-evolving-foreign-policy. Accessed: 2014.03.20 Ozkan, M., 2011. Foreign Policy after Tahrir Revolution. Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany. Ozdemir, C. and Haddad, M. 2013. Timeline: Morsi’s Rule over Egypt. www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2013/07/20137493141105596.html. Accessed: 2014.03.25 AhramOnline. 2014. Egypt's El-Sisi bids military farewell, says he will run for presidency. www.english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/97612/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-ElSisi-bids-military-farewell,-says-he-will.aspx. Accessed: 2 April 2014). Fleishman, J. Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi moves into Mubarak’s presidential office, meets with military. www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/06/25/egypts_mohammed_morsi_moves_into_mubaraks_presidential_office_meets_with_military.html. Accessed: 2 April 2014.
 * 1) 7.	Bibliography

AudioSkillz, you are invited on a Wikipedia Adventure!
 The Adventure