Compare Strategic Interests of Jordan and Egypt
For Egypt and Jordan, peace with their neighbors and security on their borders are both high on their priority list. Both countries have officially make peace with Israel, Egypt in 1978 and Jordan more recently in 1994. Both of these peace agreements were partially brokered by the United States and it is certainly within the strategic interests of both countries to remain on good terms with the United States. The United States provides both Egypt and Jordan with a quite a bit of aid, Egypt receives about 2 billion dollars a year and Jordan receives approximately 660 million dollars a year. This is a substantial amount for these countries but it comes at a price. In short they have to be willing to play the part that the United States wants them to play.
Besides remaining partners with the United States, both Jordan and Egypt have another strategic goal which is to increase their standing and position of leadership within the Arab world. Of course, these goals are often at odds. Anwar al-Sadat had to choose between the two in the late 1970s. To the detriment of Egypt’s standing in the Arab world and at the cost of his own life, Sadat choose to sign a peace agreement with Israel. As a result, Egypt was expelled from the Arab League and Sadat was killed two years after the agreement was signed by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Jordan has had to make similar decisions. In 1970, during the event now known as Black September, King Hussein of Jordan ordered the expulsion of the PLO who had been using Jordan as their headquarters. This desire to remain friends with the west and yet to stay respected by other Arab nations has characterized both Jordan’s and Egypt’s decisions in the recent past.
The strategic goals of these countries differ slightly, especially in the secondary motivations for seeking normalized relations with Israel (disregarding for the moment monetary aid). Egypt was once the leader of the Arab world and is seeking to gain back some of the prestige that a leadership role offers. Jordan on the other hand has to deal with a very real situation where their status as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is threatened by the huge amount of Palestinian refugees that are in the country, not to mention the millions more that could would come in if given the chance. They have to balance their desire to help the Palestinians with their quest for national survival. There has been talk about making Jordan a Palestinian state which is certainly not in the strategic interest of the government of Jordan. They also have the added difficulty of dealing with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees.
Egypt’s situation is relatively easier but certainly not without challenges. Sharing a border with both Israel and Gaza by default makes Egypt a major player in the conflict. Egypt’s priorities were tested last January when the fence between Gaza and Egypt was destroyed by members of Hamas. Palestinians flooded into Egypt to buy goods that had previously been unavailable or very expensive. Israel, and therefore the United States, wanted Egypt to take control and close the border immediately. Egypt stated that they would not use force to close the border but would close it when all the Palestinians has returned to Gaza. Eventually they did however close the border. That event brought to light the difficult situation that Egypt faces in trying to please the United States and yet not make enemies in the Arab world which has a lot of sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians.
Bibliography:
Levinson, Charles. “50$ Billin Later, Taking Stock of US Aid to Egypt.” Christian Science Monitor. April 2, 2004. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0412/p07s01-wome.html>.
“US Agreement to Increase Aid to Jordan Until 2013.” Jerusalam Post September 23, 2008. 1996. <http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017360229&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull>.
Nafie, Ibrahim. “Building on the Past.” Al-Ahram. July 18-24, 2002. <http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/595/op1.htm>.
“Wars of the World, Black September in Jordan 1970 – 1971.” onwar.com. December 16, 2000. <http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/bravo/blacksept1970.htm>.
“Pressure on Gaza’s Border Mounts.” BBC News. January 24, 2008. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7206217.stm>.