Egypt?s hopes of reviving its tourist industry following regional and domestic instability have fizzled, which the country blames in part on a decline in western tourists. This, coupled with exhaustion over the failure of peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians, has soured Egypt?s willingness to push western initiatives in the region.
Declining Tourism
The series of suicide attacks and bombings that took place between October 2004 and April 2006 have dramatically affected the number of western tourists to the country. Egypt?s economy, which relies heavily on tourism (source), has suffered from a declining rate of foreign, especially western, tourists since the first post-9/11 terrorist attack on October 7, 2004 (Terrorist Attack). The following attacks: April 30, 2005 (Terrorist Attack), July 23, 2005 (Terrorist Attack), and April 24, 2006 (Terrorist Attack) have targeted destinations popular with western tourists. This violence has resulted in a sharp decline in tourism-led economic growth for Egypt . Restaurant chains closed down, and shop owners lost their businesses, and hotels have been severely impacted.
As a result, Egypt has lost patience with western countries whose tourists it used to count on for financial sustenance. This has impacted its willingness to acquiesce to western requests in the international diplomatic arena ? including requests for Egypt to put pressure on actors in the Middle East conflict like Lebanon and Syria .
Rice?s Visit Adds Fuel to the Fire:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice?s visit to Egypt during this crucial time provides an example of how exhausted dialogue over the Middle East conflict coupled with domestic economic problems can produce dead end, unmotivated results. Terrorist attacks in Egypt left the nation?s leaders in a helpless and embarrassed position. President Mubarak?s compromised reputation with the Egyptian public as an American puppet has put him and his administration on the defensive, making them less willing to compromise to actively push America?s ?New Middle East? plan. Domestic constraints, which result from anti-American public sentiment, will hinder the government?s ability to support western plans for the region. For instance, current critics of the United States posture towards Iran reason that Iran and its allies would not have the ?moral traction? or room to criticize the US if only the festering Palestinian issue (source) could be managed. Although Secretary Rice?s visit to the Egypt, and to the region at large, was intended to foster support for the new plan, growing intolerance and impatience with domestic and regional conflicts perceived as exacerbated by the United States have soured what used to be a traditionally predictable and moderate Egyptian response.
As one Arab official stated in Cairo: ?No one has the political capital left to take even the smallest step.? The only way to move, he says, is to offer a vision for a comprehensive regional settlement that would include not only Israel and the Palestinians, but also Syria and Lebanon (source). Such deadlock could lead western nations, especially the U.S., to attempt to incorporate – in unprecedented ways – the needs of the greater Middle East in order to regain legitimacy and credibility in the region.
