Why Egypt matters — maybe more than ever
The US-Egyptian partnership deepens in Sinai, but human rights issues won’t go away.
Egyptian security forces this week killed 17 militants it claimed were involved in the terrorist bombing that rocked Cairo Aug. 4, leaving 20 dead and injuring 48.
The retaliation comes as the Donald Trump administration has stepped up its engagement with Egypt, both as a partner in the fight against terrorism and in quietly working the back channels not to let the Israel-Palestinian peace track go off the rails. Increased US engagement in Egypt’s war on terror also brings even more attention to Egypt’s human rights record, which will continue to be an irritant, or more, in bilateral relations.
Did Egypt ever not matter?
Earlier this summer, Steven Cook, an author and expert on Egypt at the Council on Foreign Relations, writing in Foreign Policy, questioned whether Egypt still matters in the region, concluding that small-minded leadership and an inward focus had kept Cairo off the playing field of Middle Eastern politics.
