By Jana al-Masry | 2023-12-06

For more than a century, Egypt and the United States have maintained mutually beneficial diplomatic ties that span the political, economic and security spheres.

"The history of diplomatic relations between Egypt and the United States goes back more than 100 years," Al-Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies researcher Sami Gheit told Al-Fassel.

Diplomatic ties were formally established in 1922, between US President Warren G. Harding and Egyptian King Ahmed Fouad I.

Before that, diplomatic relations were at the consular representation level, with the first US consul in Egypt appointed in 1849.

The two sides have been determined to strengthen their cooperation at the cultural level, Gheit said, through a range of US-sponsored academic and professional exchange programs.

More than 20,000 Egyptians have traveled to the United States to date to take part in the exchange programs, according to the US Embassy in Egypt.

As "committed partners in preserving, restoring and protecting Egypt's cultural heritage," the United States and Egypt in November 2021 renewed an agreement that strengthens protections for Egypt's cultural heritage.

The agreement enables bilateral cooperation to disrupt the trafficking of archeological artifacts and cultural objects, the US Embassy said.

Expansion of investments

According to the US Department of Commerce's Egypt Country Commercial Guide, US foreign direct investment in Egypt was $2 billion in 2021, with most investment concentrated in the oil and natural gas sectors.

This makes the United States the third largest foreign investor in Egypt.

"The trade and economic relations between Egypt and the United States are witnessing growth at all levels," Ain Shams University economist Shaher Abdullah told Al-Fassel.

There has been an expansion in private sector investments, he added, which in 2021 "amounted to $9.2 billion, in addition to other investments in clean energy and climate technology."

From the early 1980s until the late 1990s, US economic aid to Egypt helped modernize the nation's energy, telecommunications and wastewater infrastructure, according to a US Congressional Research Service report.

The United States invested $600 million to digitize Egypt's telecommunications sector, Abdullah noted.

Egypt has meanwhile imported about $6 billion in supplies to build and expand infrastructure to keep pace with its population growth.

Security partnership

Washington sees Cairo as "a safety valve in the Middle East and North Africa," military analyst Ahmed Abdo told Al-Fassel.

Diplomatic and political cooperation between the two countries has succeeded in resolving many issues in the region, he said, with successive US administrations hailing Egypt's role in Middle East peacemaking.

The United States government views the stability of Egypt as pivotal to regional stability, and maintains a security partnership to strengthen Egypt's armed forces and its ability to combat terrorism, per the US State Department.

Since 1978, the United States has provided Egypt with more than $50 billion in military assistance, the State Department said in April 2022.

This amounts to $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt each year, on average, according to the US Department of Defense (Pentagon).

Egypt operates US armored vehicles and flies US aircraft, and there is an active exchange programme between the countries, which regularly engage in multilateral military training exercises in Egypt and across the region.

Foremost among these is the Bright Star series of military maneuvers, the first of which -- Bright Star 81 -- took place in 1980 (fiscal year 1981).