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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Beyond the peace process
By Dina EzzatThere is more for Egypt and the Arab world to worry about during the coming years than the peace process. "It is certainly important to reach a settlement for the Arab-Israeli conflict, but it is impossible for the Arab world to continue to focus solely on this matter," said Foreign Minister Amr Moussa.
Outlining the direction of Egypt's foreign policy during the next few years, the foreign minister seemed particularly concerned about recent proposals to expand NATO activities beyond the territorial bounds of its member states and away from the umbrella of the UN, and attempts to allow for UN intervention in sovereign states outlined by the UN secretary-general during the last General Assembly.
Said Moussa: "This is a big issue... The world is changing... We are seeing the first signs of the much talked about new world order... We cannot ignore these signs... We have to think about what we want and what we can do."
With talk about the right of intervention in the affairs of sovereign states come obvious Egyptian worries about the possible division of two important members of the Arab world: Sudan in the south, and Iraq in the east.
Egypt insists that it will not tolerate the division of Iraq and will work against the division of Sudan. "Division is an unimaginable evil. We will unequivocally continue to [speak and work] against it".
Moussa promised that Egypt will do everything possible to prevent this scenario, promoting dialogue whenever possible, and keeping negotiations open with all involved parties. Egypt, he said, will attend every forum and do everything within its power to defend the territorial unity and political stability of the two Arab states. The division of these countries, he argued, would result in instability throughout the Middle East.
The absence of inter-Arab unity, though, is likely to hamper Egypt's efforts. Working towards Arab reconciliation will, then, be a priority of foreign policy. But the starting point for any reconciliation is unlikely to emerge in response to Israeli aggression -- indeed, responses to Israel constitute one of the major bones of contention. Establishing common economic interests, Moussa suggest, could be the right beginning.
"For half a century the Arab world would either come together [or fall apart] on the basis of one thing: what is happening with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Today, it is time to create [inter-Arab relations] pegged on common interests," Moussa affirmed. "We have to think of the Arab world beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict."
This is not to say that the foreign minister maintains any illusions about the difficulties facing the peace process following the election of Ehud Barak.
"We are in a phase of reviving the peace process; but what we have to say is that we are not just after any agreement... what we are witnessing today is an [alarming] settlement policy that has been adopted by the current Israeli government."
The foreign minister's criticisms of the Barak government are unprecedented in their directness. Moussa even compared it unfavourably with the government of Israel's former Premier Benyamin Netanyahu.
"When we criticise the Israeli policy of settlement-building [in occupied Arab territories] we are talking about a stab in the back of the peace process, a stab directed by his government and not by the Netanyahu government," said Moussa. More: "There is no point in the Israeli government removing a few settlers' kiosks when it is offering tenders to build thousands of settlements... Arabs cannot be tricked so easily."
After weeks of mild language about the attitudes of the Israeli government, Moussa, it would appear, feels that it is time for a more strongly worded statement: "We warn that if this [attitude] is to continue we will be in a situation when we will have to believe that Israeli policy [as experienced during the Netanyahu tenure] is still the same."
This said, the foreign minister argued that Egypt and the Arabs need to think beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict since it is only a matter of time before the parties reach a settlement.
In short, Egypt's foreign policy in the medium term is likely to be geared towards several clear objectives: promoting the Egyptian economy and better integration in the world economy; promoting improved trade and economic ties with the Arab world, Africa and the European Union; cementing ties with traditional Arab friends like Syria; pursuing steps to improve ties with Iran; opening up to Latin American and Asian countries and, obviously, maintaining the strategic dialogue with the US.
