Special Envoy Mitchell & President Mubarak (AP)
On August 18, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House. With its unique history, geography and position as the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel, Egypt has a central role to play in achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East as well as tackling other regional challenges. On Monday, Mubarak spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Uzi Arad, Israel’s national security adviser, headed to Cairo for talks with defense officials. News reports yesterday indicated that a Hamas delegation was headed to Cairo for talks about captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
In preparation for the meeting between Presidents Obama and Mubarak, below are some analysis pieces and backgrounders that look at Egypt and the peace process.
How to Achieve Israeli-Palestinian Peace
by President Hosni Mubarak (The Wall Street Journal)
Among the host of challenges before us, it is the Palestinian issue that requires the greatest urgency, given the precarious state of the peace process after years of stalemate. President Obama has shown a willingness to lead to achieve peace in the Middle East; the Arab world must reciprocate with forthright leadership of its own. …
A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace. With President Obama’s reassertion of U.S. leadership in the region, a rare moment of opportunity presents itself. Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same. Access the full article>>
Put a Proper Procedure in Place
by The Economist
The question of Hosni Mubarak’s succession is once again cropping up with increasing regularity as whispers of the president’s ill-health spread. It was widely rumoured that, shocked by the death of his favourite grandson from illness in May, Mr Mubarak had a mild stroke. He was not seen in public for a week. When he reappeared, he looked frailer. When Barack Obama came to Cairo a fortnight later to deliver his momentous speech to the Muslim world, Egypt’s 81-year-old president failed to turn up. More recently, however, he has made an effort to appear at carefully orchestrated public outings. …
There is no clear succession, yet the issue has nagged Egyptians (and foreigners who watch the Arab world’s most populous country, 80m-strong) for a good decade. Access the full article>>
For more on this topic see our Background Basics Egypt’s Important Political Players (May 7, 2008)
Whither Economic Reform?
by Anne Mariel Peters (The Arab Reform Bulletin, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
The cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, which will mark its fifth anniversary in office on July 14, 2009, has revitalized Egypt’s sluggish economic reform process, exchanged external finance for internal revenue, and eased restrictions on trade. Yet Nazif’s policies have exacerbated social inequalities and tied some reform progress to U.S. economic aid, which now faces steep cuts. The global economic crisis has further increased resistance to reform and encouraged the government to engage in palliative spending at the expense of development. Under these conditions, the sustainability of Egypt’s reform process is in doubt. Access the full article>>
