Foreign Policy Under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi: Egypt Role in Ongoing Conflicts in Gaza Strip, Syrian Crisis, Yemeni Civil War, Impact on U.S. Interests in Middle East and North Africa

This mid-2018 report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. President al-Sisi's regional foreign policy decisions have taken a different approach compared to past Egyptian presidencies. Understanding where Egypt is headed and the backbone of al-Sisi's foreign policies is important not only for U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa, but for regional security and stability. This study attempts to explain how and why al-Sisi makes his foreign policy decisions by examining his policies on three ongoing conflicts: the Gaza Strip, the Syrian crisis, and the Yemeni civil war. Additionally, this study examines and compares previous Egyptian presidents' foreign policies with al-Sisi. Within these case studies, three hypotheses are tested: that al-Sisi's foreign policy concentrates on protecting the regime and supporting its interests, that al-Sisi's foreign policy concentrates on protecting national interests and improving quality of life for Egyptians, or a combination of the two. While regime and national interests differ in each case study, al-Sisi has demonstrated that he takes into account both factors in his foreign policy decision-making. The lessons learned from these case studies can assist U.S. leadership and policymakers in predicting how President al-Sisi is likely to approach new challenges in the Middle East.

This study is composed of six chapters. The first chapter contains the study introduction. The second through fifth chapters comprise the regional conflict case studies of the Gaza Strip, the Syrian crisis, and the Yemeni civil war. Each chapter introduces past foreign policy under previous presidencies and explains what concerns and interests shape President al-Sisi's current foreign policy. The final chapter concludes with an explanation of how President al-Sisi implements his foreign policy for U.S. leadership and policymakers to take into account when assessing Egypt, the Middle East, and its interests in the region.

I. Introduction * A. Significance Of The Research Question * B. Literature Review * 1. Interests Of The Regime Vs. National Interests * 2. Balance Of Power Theories * 3. Al-Sisi's Foreign Policy Decisions * C. Potential Explanations And Hypotheses * D. Research Design * E. Study Overview * Ii. Gaza Strip * A. Egyptian Foreign Policy Prior Al-Sisi * 1. President Hosni Mubarak * 2. President Mohamed Morsi * B. President Al-Sisi's Foreign Policy * C. Conclusion * Iii. The Syrian Crisis * A. The Spark Of The Syrian Crisis * B. The Syrian-Iranian Alliance * C. Saudi Arabia And Iran-Brotherhood Ties * D. President Al-Sisi Foreign Policy * E. Conclusion * Iv. The Yemeni Civil War * A. President Gamal Abdel Nasser And Yemen * B. President Al-Sisi's Foreign Policy * C. Conclusion * V. Conclusion