Egyptian foreign relations: Policies versus diplomacy
Egyptian diplomacy does not lack capability; our diplomats have held, and continue to hold, many highranking international positions, including UN secretary-general. Our diplomacy lacks clear vision and direction.
LEARNING of the Egyptian foreign minister’s recent meeting with a number of Egyptian journalists to discuss foreign policy was a positive change in the official attitude toward listening to other people’s perspectives. But the fact that he met only with journalists affiliated to the state, who have no clue about international political dynamics and who continuously praise the ruling regime, brought us back to square one.
The state is of course fully entitled to articulate its foreign policy, but holding discussions with people who share the same viewpoints will not help Egypt be better understood by other nations. Its foreign policy and diplomacy have been heavily criticized by many countries and by the international media.
Because we often perceive universal dynamics from our own narrow perspective, our foreign policy has been heavily geared toward convincing the world of issues that lack substance and practical solutions. Whereas we constantly wish to be present at all regional events, we do not think about what our contribution to the challenges at hand will be, contenting ourselves with throwing conspiracy allegations at nations that differ with us.
Foreign policy and diplomacy are meant to serve and affect one another. But this necessitates the establishment of a two-way communication channel in which diplomats offer their comprehensive knowledge and recommendations to the foreign ministry, which then articulates its policy based on their cumulative experiences.
Unfortunately, since the Egyptian state only uses a single top-down channel (in all areas of government, including foreign affairs), its diplomats often find themselves in the position of defending policies that they are not in harmony with and have taken no part in articulating. Egypt’s regional advantage has been dwindling since the 2011 revolution. Sadly, many Egyptians wrongly blame this on the revolution.
How we articulate our foreign policy has contributed to this decline: Insisting we are always right, getting excited about issues we like, imagining that repeating our arguments endlessly will persuade other nations to endorse our policies, and ignoring others’ perspectives, including those of people who work in diplomacy. We become animated when other nations endorse our policies, but lend a deaf ear to any constructive comments they may make.
Contrary to what we believe, many Arab and Western nations would like to support Egypt’s efforts to progress, but they can only do so if we adopt sensible policies. Formulating our entire foreign policy within the framework of a single challenge (terrorism) and demanding the entire world endorse our perspective have limited our capacity to assess other challenges reasonably and prevented us from recognizing our diplomatic failures.
The continued surfacing of Egyptian terrorist groups and activity is reason enough to question the efficacy of our present policies. The state’s complete control of domestic media prevents it from understanding freedom of expression in other parts of the world. Meanwhile, our unsubstantiated domestic political activities have all too often triggered international media to report what is truly happening in Egypt.
The ruling regime is struggling to understand Western countries’ altered attitudes toward our country, given their previous pragmatic approach toward Egypt and their support of the policies formulated during former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
Egyptian diplomacy does not lack capability; our diplomats have held, and continue to hold, many highranking international positions, including UN secretary-general. Our diplomacy lacks clear vision and direction; the knowledge of such capable diplomats could contribute to making it more rational. But our diplomatic capabilities are seriously constrained because they are framed within the state’s single-perspective policy.
Many of our challenges could be better resolved if our diplomats were brought substantially closer to decision-makers and enabled to contribute to formulating effective policies. Because it deals with everything using the domestic mindset, without realizing that ignorance of political dynamics — so widespread in Egypt — does not exist beyond our borders, the government has placed itself in a unique and isolated position.
It is unable to win over key nations or the foreign media to its viewpoints on most issues. We tend to insist on our established policies, but we do not want to bear their consequences. To compensate for this erroneous approach, the government has prolonged its relationships with nations that have no universal influence and little in common with Egypt.
Mohammed Nosseir, a liberal politician from Egypt, is a strong advocate of political participation and economic freedom. He can be reached on Twitter @MohammedNosseir.
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