Once upon a time, Egypt was considered the gateway to the (Middle) East. We may not have been a world player, but we did maintain an important role as mediator. We were necessary. We were listened to. We mattered.
What happened to that Egypt? Why are we now merely an afterthought in the Middle East?
This piece by Mona Eltahawy discusses Egypt's diminished role in the Middle East peace process(es) and in global politics as a whole.
I hate to admit it, but Egypt's only claim to fame (the only/first Arab nation to embrace diplomacy) isn't even applicable anymore. It's sad, disappointing, and a huge blow.
Can't say we don't deserve it, though.
14 years ago
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8 comments:
What's the 'big' loss after all? Back in Naser's days, Egypt was regional leader no doubts. But the economy was being set-up for decades of failure by an array of stupid decisions: nationalization, subsidies, free education ...etc. So our economy got fucked so bad (to this day we suffer the consequences) and civil rights plummeted: no free press, no democracy ... nothing... YET Egypt was a key regional leader back then… yay?
Now we Egypt isn’t in the same position, true. But we are much better off when it comes to freedom of press, economy and even democracy (yes the elections were rigged YET having elections is a first step). I think it boils down to priorities, when we have our house in order and our economy starts to grow at a double digit rate THEN let's stick our noses into other people's business and let's play a leading role in the region.
But to forget all the mess we currently have (economy sucks ass, secular disputes on the rise ...etc) and long to the 'good old days' when we were leading the region ... well can't find words to describe it better than: 2a2ra3 wi nozahi.
....wa 3agabi :)
Hey Feshfesh,
Firstly, thanks for your devoted readership and commenting, it's always encouraging :)
I agree with your comments - we have a lot to fix ourselves before dealing with the problems of others. That would be a good reason to stop spending our time protesting the Israeli-Palestinian issue and instead protesting the treatment of our own civilians in jails. It would be a good reason to stop protesting US funding of vigilante dictators and instead protest the pocketing of Egyptian funds by corrupt politicians.
But my point has little to do with our own problems. It is about our participation and position in the international arena. It is about our credibility. I am asking why and when we sunk to the point of total irrelevancy. When and why did we become the Middle East's court jester?
Doesn't this demotion just show us that we are even less likely to fix our own problems? That we are a 'hopeless case' in every sense?
I understand your point out of the post was more of voicing ‘when/why did that happen?’ and in all honestly I don’t know. Yet, my point was more of does really matter? And regarding your last comment about how this demotion might mean we are even less likely to fix our own problems. Well, with that logic you can argue that Saudi (which has been ‘promoted’ now by Bush where he spent 2 full days and I think it was the first Arabic country he visits in the ME) is on the top of the pyramid when it comes to: democracy, economic reform and human rights? ... I don't believe so :)
...and hey love your blog! :)
Agreed on almost all counts. Except, I think that being involved matters. At the end of the day, being involved will reap more benefits than becoming isolated - self-imposed or otherwise. International relations wouldn't have become a cornerstone of modernity and civilization had their not been major benefits to reap, so why be excluded?
Yeah, that's true. Isolation won't help a country internally or externally for sure. Come to think of it, there are two extremes: 1. Egypt leading the whole region 2. Egypt being totally isolated.
What's I'm saying is that we don't need be #1, at least now. And what we both are saying is that #2 is definitely not the place to be. So for sure there's a sweetspot in the middle that gives disproportionate focus to solving internal issues while being active on the international stage… not necessarily leading though.
hehehehee.. you know what, I feel like I'm in a CIMUN caucus trying to convince a fellow delegate to sign the draft resolution!! Good days :))
Truth is, Egypt was never a leading player because of merit. With Nasser, it was the incredibly potent rhetoric of Arab nationalism for which he was the spokesman that made Egypt so popular, so important. Arab neighbors and Western powers alike saw him as both a threat and an oppurtunity. After that, with Sadat and Mubarak, one could argue that, really, the only reason Egypt was given any weight was that the US needed it to have some. To counter other, more reactionary, less complying regimes in the region and to be a foothold for American interests in teh Middle East. We certainly were not important because of our army, or, even more ludicrously, our economy.
Now they (the US) are just more distracted. They are distracted by city-emirates with booming economies, places so shiny and superficially pro-West that the dazzle covers up rampant corruption and horrendous human rights abuses (i am speaking more of Dubai and less of Saudi Arabia. The latter will never be able to get the intl community off of its back until they disassociate themselves from the very real images of oppressed women.) And this American administration has never really given anything more than lip service to the Israeli-Palestenian conflict, so Egypt's perhaps more naturally (because of borders and such) important role in that arena has been invisible. Combine that with what I can only imagine to be the incredible boredom that comes with dancing around in the same circles, yapping about democratization and reform for a failing economy with an ailing, uncharasmatic leader, and you have an international community that is probably glad to be distracted. I would be.
Spaz sabittini. You never fail to impress :D
Yeah, way to go Spaz! :) As much as I agree with your analysis above, I find one point different. Whether or not leaders, in the past, truly believed Egypt was a true regional leader or not, they consistently sent signals that Egypt was a regional leader. All key conferences and agreement regarding the Middle East had to have Egypt as an organizer not a player. To a degree, Egypt was playing a similar role to that of the EU and US nowadays, when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
With the same logic, you argue that a quick 3-hour refueling stopover on the way back, is a signal of a marginalized role of Egypt now vs. back then.
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