Middle East Peace Takes Centre Stage

President Mubarak has made his first official trip to Washington for more than five years. The visit is set to cement ties which had at least superficially been strained during the George W. Bush era over the official emphasis on the need for greater commitment to democratisation. Egypt is one of the U.S.’ key allies in the region and currently receives billions of dollars in military and other aid. Mubarak, who is due to meet with President Barack Obama later today, has already met with a number of top officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. According to a U.S. State Department spokesman, Clinton and the 81-year-old Egyptian leader stressed the need for Israel, the Palestinians, and Arab states to take ''parallel steps'' to set the stage for a return to negotiations. Talks throughout focused intensely on the issue of reviving the stalled Middle East peace process, which is expected to feature heavily during talks with Obama.

In recent months, the United States has shown its determination to turn up the diplomatic heat on Israel over its failure to halt settlement construction in the West Bank, although so far such efforts have proven fruitless. Right-wing Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was swept to power in the February 2009 elections, has been under intense pressure not to yield to U.S. demands. Many believe that the United States, which in recent weeks is coming under significant pressure over a number of domestic issues (including that of national healthcare), has come to the conclusion that pushing Israel too far and adding to its sense of diplomatic isolation over the issue risks backfiring, possibly harming efforts to get it onboard other issues which are also seen as key goals for the U.S. administration—such as moving forward with comprehensive peace talks with the Palestinians.

Waning U.S. Commitment to Middle East Reform?

With the emphasis being on more traditional U.S. foreign policy themes (the Middle East peace process, regional security, and trade) it seems so far that the United States is less interested in raising the issues of political reform and human rights. Although Obama may be forced to merely skirt over such issues in his meeting with Mubarak over the next few hours. This is expected to come as no surprise to rights campaigners, who have so far been repeatedly disappointed with what it claims is the Egyptian president’s failure to live up to campaign policies by pushing the rights and freedoms issues up the agenda. Over the years, Mubarak (who has ruled the country for 28 years) has made pledges to enact democratic reforms and repeal the decades-old democratic emergency law and allow the judiciary greater autonomy. However, in the name of battling the threat of creeping Islamism and the growing popularity of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood movement, Egypt has seen continued crackdowns on its opposition groups, has retained various measures curbing the activities of the country’s media.

Outlook and Implications

The landmark visit is expected to improve Egypt’s already-excellent relations with the United States, with talks expected to focus on traditional U.S. foreign-policy themes. The United States will be seeking to ensure that the Egypt remains firmly onside in its efforts to push for progress on Middle East peace as well as build a strong coalition against Iran. Such support is expected to come at a price, with the United States expected to be far less heavy-handed and less public in its criticism of domestic issues inside Egypt, breaking what Obama opponents believe to have been one of his key campaign promises.

Global Insight (Reino Unido)