U.S. Is Near Pact to Cut $1 Billion From Egypt's Debt

By Thomas Cummings

This article from the New York Times describes the ongoing debate to determine exactly how the United States government will assist Egypt economically as it is still in the infancy of democracy and in economic turmoil. The author, Steven Lee Myers says that “the Obama administration is nearing an agreement with the country’s new government to relieve $1 billion of its debt as part of an American and international assistance package intended to bolster its transition to democracy” (par. 1). However, the U.S. is not the only member of the international community willing to help. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have provided “emergency infusions” of nearly 3 billion dollars while China has offered Egyptian President Morsi a 200 million dollar loan (par. 17).

Details of the U.S. assistance are yet to be determined. The administration is considering whether or not to simply wave the debt or to swap it for training and infrastructure projects in Egypt to create jobs and attract private investment both foreign and domestic (par. 21). The motives of this assistance program can be questioned but some officials consider it “an opportunity to reshape a relationship that for decades was focused more on arms sales and security than on economic prosperity for a broad group of Egyptians” (par. 14). This is a good chance for the United States to reinforce a positive relationship with this increasingly influential state in the middle-east.

Ideology can be defined as “the main link between fundamental beliefs and action” which serves as a way to legitimize authority (Dr. Cano). In Egypt economic instability created unrest which eventually led to its revolution in 2011. Now however, with a new democratic system and its first president elected by popular vote, it is assumed that the authority of the state will be considered legitimate by its people. This also means, interpreting the ‘rational action flow chart’, that with a leader who represents the belief system of the Egyptian community and with a solid ideology any action the state decides to take will more likely be legitimate. With the authoritarian regime that Egypt had before, the belief system represented was only that of one single leader or group of elites. Now Egypt has the tools necessary to make a rational decision in an effort to achieve its preference of economic stability and growth.

Democracy, it has been said, is like a tree; it cannot be simply bought but instead must be planted and cared for until it grows strong enough to bare fruits. In this case, the tree has been planted and it is being cared for by several members of the international community who will later be ready and waiting to pick its fruits as an economic and political ally.

“U.S. Is Near Pact to Cut $1 Billion From Egypt’s Debt”. Myers, Steven Lee. 3 de septiembre de 2012. The New York Times. < http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/world/middleeast/us-prepares-economic-aid-to-bolster-democracy-in-egypt.html?hp>.