HOW SOVEREIGN IS U.S. DEFENCE PARTNER EGYPT?

France’s President Macron is reportedly flying to Egypt 7-8 April to discuss Cairo’s proposed reconstruction plan for Gaza, which was provisionally endorsed at the Arab Summit earlier in March.  The African country has shown regional leadership, pushing back against an outrageous rival plan by the Trump administration that includes proposals to turn the devastated Strip into a luxury resort and move out its surviving population (critics would rightly say: ethnically cleanse the territory). But Egypt’s ability to chart an independent path remains constrained by neocolonial financial shackles. Given how heavily the country depends on Washington for its defence capabilities - and, indirectly, for its access to IMF loans - it’s unclear whether Cairo really has the clout to take a sovereign course.  We explores the issues at play.

sources

1. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-egypt/

2. https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/_/egypt-and-the-us-a-partnership-rooted-in-the-past

3. https://egyptianstreets.com/2025/02/14/why-egypt-does-not-need-us-aid/

4. https://www.newarab.com/news/egypt-denies-report-it-will-absorb-500000-gazans-sinai

5. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/arab-leaders-endorse-egyptian-counterproposal-to-trumps-gaza-plan

6. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/29/egypts-el-sisi-rejects-trumps-suggestion-to-take-in-palestinians