International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence in the MENA Region: Revisiting US Foreign Aid to Egypt in the post-2011 Arab Uprisings Era

Year 2022, Volume: 19 Issue: 75, 45 - 63, 05.09.2022

Eman Ratrout Nur Köprülü

https://doi.org/10.33458/uidergisi.1163569

Cited By: 1

Abstract

The majority of studies that examine political liberalization and democratization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region concentrate on internal factors such as Islamic or patriarchal culture, oil rents, socio-economic structures and patrimonialism. This article argues instead that external factors under the cloak of aid represent one of the main dynamics impeding democratic transformation in the region, and precisely supports authoritarian regime consolidation. In this regard, Egypt can be described as a case of authoritarian stability in the post-2011 Arab Uprisings era in which politics and stability rather than democratization and/ or development agenda have become the main motive behind donor decisions hitherto. In this article, Egypt has been selected as a case study to illuminate how the increased hopes and dividends of democratic transition from the Arab Uprisings can swiftly turn into upholding authoritarian rule.

Keywords

MENA region, Arab Uprisings, Egypt, US Foreign Aid, Authoritarianism

References

• Abdel-Fattah, Bashir (2001). Horizons of Egyptian-American Relations. Cairo, Cairo University Centre for Studies and Research for Developing Countries.
• Abdel-Moneim, Abdel-Fattah (2017). “The Story of US Aid from the July 23 Revolution So Far”, Al-Yuom Al-Sabea, October 3. Adly, Amr (2014). “The Economics of Egypt’s Rising Authoritarian Order”, 18 June. https://carnegieendowment.org/ sada/55804 (Accessed 7 June 2019).
• Alessandri, Emiliano et al. (2015). U.S. Democracy Promotion from Bush to Obama. EUSpring, Working Paper No. 1.
• Al-Sayyid, Mustapha Kamel (2003). The Other Face of the Islamist Movement. Washington, DC, Carnegie.
• Al-Minshawi, Muhammad (2014). America and the Egyptian Revolution: From January 25 to Sisi Election, Testimony from Washington. Cairo, El-Shorouk.
• Amin, Samir (2014). “International Assistance to Egypt after the 2011 and 2013 Uprisings: More Politics and Less Development”, Mediterranean Politics, Vol. 19, No 3, p. 392–412.
• Arab News (2018). “US Releases $195 Million in Frozen Military Aid to Egypt”, 26 July, https://www.arabnews.com/ node/1346136/middle-east (Accessed 4 May 2019).
• Arena, Maria (2017). “Changing Foreign Policy: the Obama Administration’s Decision to oust Mubarak”, Brazilian Journal of International Politics, Vol. 60, No 1, p. 1-17.
• Ayubi, Nazih (1995). Over-Stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East, London, I.B. Tauris.
• Badawi, Ahmad (2012). American Democracy Assistance in Egypt Understanding Neoliberalism in Decentralization and Democratic Governance. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, American University in Cairo, AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/retro_etds/2526
• Bader, Julia and Jörg Faust (2014). “Foreign Aid, Democratization, and Autocratic Survival”, International Studies Review, Vol. 16, No 4, p. 575-595.
• Bishara, Azmi (2013). “Revolution Against the Revolution and the Street Against the People and the Counter Revolution”, Arab Politics Journal, No 4, p. 5–16.
• Bromley, Simon (1994). Rethinking Middle East Politics, Texas: University of Texas Press.
• Brown, Nathan and Hamzavy Amr (2020). “The Role of Egypt′s Armed Forces: A Military Empire”, ISPI, 24 September, https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/role-egypts-armed-forces-military-empire-27403 (Accessed 3 December 2020).
• Carnegie Middle East Center (2013). “National Rescue Front”, September 3, https://carnegie-mec.org›2013/09/03 (Accessed 20 August 2021).
• Carothers, Thomas (2000). “The Clinton Record on Democracy Promotion”, Democracy and Rule of Law Project Working Papers, Carnegie, No 16.
• Cavatorta, Francesco (2015). “No Democratic Change … and Yet No Authoritarian Continuity: The Inter-Paradigm Debate and North Africa After the Uprisings”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 42, No 1, p. 135–145.
• CEIC (2021). “Egypt External Debt Reached 125.3 USD bn in Sep 2020”, https://ceicdata.com/en/indicator/egypt/ext (Accessed 10 June 2021).
• Chatzky, Andrew and James McBride (2020). “China`s Massive Belt and Road Initiative”, Council of Foreign Relations, https:// www.cfr.org (Accessed 20 March 2022).
• Chehabi, Houchang and Juan Linz (1998). Sultanistic Regimes. Baltimore and London, John Hopkins University Press.
• Dalacoura, Katerina (2018). “Democratic Transitions in the Levant: Prospects for Restoring a Regional Order”, Uluslararası İlişkiler, Vol. 15, No 60, p. 31-44.
• Diamond, Larry J. (2008). The Spring of Democracy. New York, Times Books Henry Holt and Company.
• Duran, Burhanettin (2021). “What is Biden’s New Democracy Promotion?”, Daily Sabah, March 8. https://www.dailysabah. com/opinion/columns/what-is-bidens-new-democracy-promotion (Accessed 10 July 2021).
• Fisher, Max (2013). “Law Says the U.S. is Required to Cut Aid After Coups. Will it?”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ news/worldviews/wp/2013/07/03/law-says-the-u-s-is-required-to-cut-aid-after-coups-will-it (Accessed 7 December 2020).
• Freedom House (2021). Freedom House Report for Egypt. https://freedomhouse.org/country/egypt/freedom-world/2021 (Accessed 15 July 2021).
• Habibi, Nader (2018). “Prospects for Economic Integration in Levant”, Uluslararası İlişkiler, Vol. 15, No 60, p. 59-73.
• Hamzawy, Amr (2017). “Legislating Authoritarianism: Egypt’s New Era of Repression”, https://carnegieendowment. org/2017/03/16/legislating-authoritarianism-egypt-s-new-era-of-repression-pub-68285 (Accessed 11 May 2019).
• Hawthorne, Amy (2016). Rethinking U.S. Economic Aid to Egypt. Washington, DC, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED).
• Heydemann, Steven (2007). “Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World”, The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/10arabworld.pdf
• Hinnebusch, Raymond (2006). “Authoritarian persistence, democratization theory and the Middle East: An overview and critique”, Democratization, Vol. 13, No. 3, p. 373-395.
• Hinnebusch, Raymond (2015). “Globalization, Democratization, and the Arab Uprising: The International Factor in MENA’s Failed Democratization”, Democratization, Vol. 22, No 2, p. 335–357.
• Human Rights Watch (2019). Egypt Constitutional Amendments. https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/20/egyptconstitutional-amendments-entrench-repression (Accessed 25 June 2021).
• Huntington, Samuel (1984). “Will More Countries Become Democratic?”, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 99, No 2, p. 193-218.
• IOM Egypt, “Positive Life Alternatives for Egyptian Youth At-Risk of Irregular Migration 2015-2017”, 2015. https://egyIpt. iom.int/sites/egypt/files/IOM%20Egypt%20Country%20Strategy%202021-2025%20FINAL.pdf (Accessed 21 July 2019).
• Kausch, Kristina (ed.) (2015). Geopolitics and Democracy in the Middle East. Madrid, FRIDE.
• Kedourie, Elie (1992). Democracy and Arab Political Culture. Washington DC, Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
• Kuran, Timur (1991). “Now out of Never: The Element of Surprise in the Eastern European Revolution of 1989”, World Politics, No 44, p. 7-48.
• Levitsky, Steven and Lucan Way (2010). Competitive Authoritarianism. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
• Lust, Ellen (2009). “Competitive Clientelism in the Middle East”, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 20, No 3, p. 122–135.
• McCormick, James (2011). “The Obama Presidency: A Foreign Policy of Change?” in Transforming America: Barack Obama in the White House. Steven Schier (ed.), Transforming America: Barack Obama in the White House, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield.
• Michaelowa, Katharina (1996). “Who Determines the Amount of Tied Aid: A Public Choice Approach”, HWWA, Discussion Paper No. 40.
• Miller, Andrew (2018). “Five Myths about U.S. Aid to Egypt”, Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-miller-egyptcommentary-idUSKBN1KY1WJ (Accessed 1 July 2021).
• Miller, Judith (1983). “Egypt Misses an Interest Payment on $2.1 Billion Arms Debt to US”. The New York Times Archives, 22 July. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/22/world/egypt-misses-an-interest-payment-on-2.1-billion-arms-debtto-us.html (11 May 2019).
• Mindock, Clark (2019). “Where’s is My Favorite Dictator?”, Independent, September 13, https://www.independent. co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-egypt-president-sisi-favorite-dictator-meeting-a9104951.html (Accessed 11 May 2019).
• Milton-Edwards, Beverly (2011). Contemporary Politics of the Middle East. Cambridge, Polity Press.
• Norton, Augustus Richard (1995). Civil Society in the Middle East. Leiden, E. J. Brill.
• Office of Inspector General (2009). Audit of USAID/Egypt’s Democracy and Governance Activities, Report Number 6-263-10-001-P. https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/6-263-10-001-p.pdf (Accessed 2 April 2019).
• Ottaway, Marina (2020). “Authoritarian Governance in Egypt: A Return to the Past”, Italian Institute for International Political Studies, 24 September. https://www.ispionline.it/en/pubblicazione/authoritarian-governance-egypt-returnpast-27405 (22 February 2021).
• Pace, Michelle (2007). “The Construction of EU Normative Power”, Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 45, No 5, p. 1041–1064.
• Patel, David (2021). “The Egyptian Revolution After 10 Years”, The Crown Center for Middle Eastern Studies, https://www. brandeis.edu/crown/publications/crown-conversations/cc-5.html (4 May 2021).
• Patterson, Eric and Malcolm Fitschen (2021). “Obama’s Sustainable Democracy Promotion: Assessing 7 years of Policy Performance”, International Politics, Vol. 58, No 1, p. 90–110.
• Podeh, Elie (2012). “Farewell to an Age of Tyranny? Egypt as a Model of Arab Revolution”, Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol. 18, No 1, p. 10–18.
• Quero, Jordi and Dessi, Andrea (2019). “Unpredictability in US foreign Policy and the Regional Order in the Middle East: Reacting vis-à-vis a Volatile External Security-Provider”, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 48, No 2, p. 311-330.
• Reuters (2013). “Rice: U.S. can help Egypt with Gaza border” (2008). 8 January. https://www.reuters.com/article/ idUSN08496570 Rice (Accessed 5 July 2020).
• Reuters (2018). “US Releases Aid to Egypt Amid Human Rights Concerns”, 5 September. https://www.voanews.com/a/ us-releases-aid-to-egypt-amid-human-rights-concerns/4559335.html (7 May 2019).
• Richards, Alan & Waterbury, John (2007). A Political Economy of the Middle East, Boulder: Westview Press.
• Rutherford, B. K. (2018). “Egypt’s New Authoritarianism under Sisi”, Middle East Journal, Vol. 72, No 2, p. 185–208.
• Sadowski, Yahya (1997). “The New Orientalism and the Democracy Debate”, Beinin, J. and Stork, J. (eds.), Political Islam. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, p. 33-50.
• Sayigh, Yezid (2019). “The Owners of the Republic: An Anatomy of Egypt’s Military Economy”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Sayigh-Egypt_full_final1.pdf
• Sharabi, Hisham (1988). Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Sharp, Jeremy (2020). Egypt Background and US Relations, Report no. RL33003 Congressional Research Service, 2020. Available at https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc822658/m1/25/ (Accessed 21 February 2021).
• Shikaki, Khalil (2004). The American Initiative for the Greater Middle East. Ramallah, Palestinian Centre of Policy and Survey Research.
• Sondergaard, Rasmus (2015). “Bill Clinton’s ‘Democratic Enlargement’ and the Securitization of Democracy Promotion”, Diplomacy & Statecraft, No. 26, 2015, p. 534–551.
• Springborg, Robert and Williams Pink (2019). The Egyptian Military: A Slumbering Giant Awakes, Carnegie.
• Tang, Bann Sen (2021). International Aid and Democracy Promotion, Liberalization at the Margins. London, Routledge.
• The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (2018). “U.S. Release of $195 Million in Military Assistance to Egypt”, August 8, https://timep.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/US-Release195MillionPolicyBriefupdated2-6-19.pdf (Accessed 2 February 2019).
• The White House (2021). “Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with President”, https://www.whitehouse.gov/ briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/20/readout-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-call-with-presidentabdel-fattah-al-sisi-of-egypt/(Accessed 1 July 2021).
• The World Bank in Egypt (2022). 16 May https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/egypt/overview (Accessed 2 June 2022).
• Tierney, Dominic (2019). “Obama and Trump: Foreign Policy Opposites or Twins?”, Foreign Policy Research Institute, https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/12/obama-and-trump-foreign-policy-opposites-or-twins/(Accessed 1 July 2021).
• USAID (2017). U.S. Overseas Loans and Grants: Obligations and Loans Authorized July 1, 1954– September 30. Document ID number PB-AAJ-725, 2017, 16.
• USAID-Egypt Fact Sheet (2019). “Safe Cities Free from Violence Against Women and Girls”, September 18, https://www. usaid.gov/egypt/documents/fact-sheet-safe-cities-free-violence-against-women-and-girls (Accessed 15 July 2021).
• USAID (2022). “Egypt: Country Profile”, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Egypt_CountryProfile_ English_EN_2022.pdf (Accessed 1 May 2022)
• US Embassy in Egypt (2021). “The United States Provides $125 million in Economic Assistance to Egypt”, 1 November. https://eg.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-provides-125-million-in-economic-assistance-to-egypt/ (22 March 2022).
• Walle, Nicolas (2010). “US Policy Towards Africa: The Bush Legacy and the Obama Administration”, African Affairs, Vol. 109, No 434, p. 1–21.
• Walsh, Declan (2018). “Need a North Korean Missile? Call the Cairo Embassy”, The New York Times. 3 March. https://www. nytimes.com/2018/03/03/world/middleeast/egypt-north-korea-sanctions-arms-dealing.html (7 April 2019).
• Wittes, Tamara (2020). “The Needed Reset for the US-Egypt Relationship”, Brookings, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/ order-from-chaos/2020/09/10/the-needed-reset-for-the-us-egypt-relationship/ (Accessed 10 July 2021).