This paper seeks to understand the determinants and limitations of Egypt’s foreign policy approach towards the Syrian civil war. The chosen theoretical framework seeks to situate Egypt within the...Show moreThis paper seeks to understand the determinants and limitations of Egypt’s foreign policy approach towards the Syrian civil war. The chosen theoretical framework seeks to situate Egypt within the debate on the concept of Middle Powers. While Egypt lacks economic power, it still perceives itself as a Middle Power and acts as such due to its ambitions, and large military capabilities. In the first empirical chapter it is found that Egypt’s historical legacy has embedded the notions of independence, external economic assistance and counter-Islamism in its foreign policy. In the second empirical chapter, the interests of Sisi’s government were identified as matching the historical constants of Egypt’s foreign policy, which also explains his support for Assad. Then, it was found that Egypt’s interests are conflicting with those of its main allies and donors – the United States (US), Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but are rather convergent with the interests of Russia and China. Therefore, Egypt cannot overly support the Assad regime in Syria as this would potentially lead to a loss of needed financial aid.Show less
