Egypt's Foreign Policy and its Role as a Regional Power

The choice of the topic "Egypt's Foreign Policy and its Role as a Regional Power" is not haphazard. It comes at a time when many question marks are raised concerning the absence of the active role of Egypt in the latest events in Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. The traditional pivotal role which Egypt used to play in the Middle East region since the beginning of the 19th Century shows clear signs of weakness or more precisely of retreat.;In order to shed light on the factors which prompted such retreat and weakened Egypt's capacity to preserve and maintain such traditional role in its region, it is necessary to recall, in some detail, the major political events which took place in the last thirty years or so and to briefly review the Egyptian political scene, and the economic situation which prevails at present.;Yet it would be too soon to conclude that Egypt's role as a regional power belongs to the past. Indeed, Egypt's strategic, human and cultural potential still can enable it to regain a foothold in Arab and Middle Eastern politics. This would obviously require a drastic overhaul of its political landscape and effective economic reforms that would enable Egypt to have more leverage to parlay its strategic importance and to become an active leading player in the region.;This thesis will provide a history of modern Egypt, the constants and the variables which have determined its foreign policy as well as an overview of the political system, the evolution of its foreign policy under the three successive presidencies, and a discussion on the prospects of Egypt in its bid to recover its traditional regional role.