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Middle East Review of International Affairs
Promoting Economic Liberalization in Egypt: From U.S. Foreign Aid to Trade and Investment
by Bessma Momani
*
Abstract
In the early to mid-1980s, the United States became frustrated that its financial assistance was being wasted by Egypt’s inefficient, statist economy and wanted the Egyptian government to pursue economic liberalization. At the same time, the United States, observed that its foreign assistance program was less than optimal at effectively leveraging economic reforms. After the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War, Congress put pressure on the administration to create a new economic relationship that would lessen Egypt’s aid dependency on the United States, and promote economic liberalization in Egypt. Specifically, Congress advocated ‘trade and not aid’ as the new rationale for the bilateral relationship. The Presidents’ Council, created by the two governments in 1994, along with several recent trade agreements, has become the cornerstone for this U.S. policy of pursuing economic liberalization in Egypt.
Full PDF Document, 14 pages, 78.8 kb
Note *: Dr. Bessma Momani is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She is the author of a forthcoming article in Review of International Political Economy, entitled “American Politicization of the IMF”, and currently working on examining Middle East economic integration and Fund surveillance. Back