Egypt - Foreign Relations - Morsi [2012-2013]
The brief [2012-2013] Morsi administration would strive to move beyond the U.S.-centered agenda of the past, but keep those decades-long ties strong. Fifteen turbulent months after the old government fell, radical change was something the Morsi campaign was trying to play down. Even on controversial issues such as Israel, the candidate vowed to keep the peace.
Egypt's need to keep friends was seen when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador following a violent protest at its Cairo embassy. Immediately, what did they do? The Islamist-controlled parliament sent a big delegation, saying 'please come back. We don't want trouble.' Nobody wanted any major trouble in foreign policy.
Another factor at play is Egypt's influential military, which was dragged into three wars during the last century. Since then, it had pledged not to be the victim of political ambitions. So the war decision would remain theirs. Add to that anything in foreign policy that will lead to war, which means basically Israel, the Nile basin and Iran. Morsi could not make foreign policy isolated from the military on issues like that.
Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, voiced his apprehensions about the Muslim Brotherhood to which Mohamed Morsi belonged prior to his electoral victory. Lugar said it is important that longstanding ties between Washington and Cairo be maintained under a Morsi administration. “Our expectation is that he will respect human rights, the democratic process, and work carefully [with the United States] - as opposed to being an adversarial figure,” Lugar said.
That view was echoed by Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee. “I just hope that he [Mohamed Morsi] will turn out to be someone who helps his country follow a moderate course of trying to work together with neighbors and trying to deal with any extreme elements in his own society that could create problems for his country,” said Levin.
Morsi visited Iran on 30 August 2012, the first visit by an Egyptian leader since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Morsi's trip broke an alienation dating back to Egypt's recognition of Israel and its welcome to Iran's deposed Shah. The visit was pegged to the technical point of handing over the rotating leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement. And there was no word of when and if full diplomatic relations will be restored. But the symbolism concerned countries trying to isolate Iran - in particular, Egypt's long-time ally the United States.
In the first five months since his election on June 24, Morsi tried to present a reinvigorated Egypt to the world, traveling around the region and as far afield as China and the United States. With his mediation in the Israeli Gaza aerial conflict, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi faced a high profile test of his presidency. Egypt's first Islamist president had been carrying out a delicate balancing act, showing solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood's religious and political offspring, the Hamas leaders of Gaza, while portraying himself as a reliable broker for Israel and the West.
On 03 July 2013 the Egyptian military deposed President Mohamed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution. Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi became Egypt's new president after securing a landslide victory of over 96 percent of the valid votes, with over 23 million voters casting their ballots for him, according to an unofficial vote count as of 29 May 2014. There was an outcry from international human rights groups against the Egyptian military leadership.
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