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EGYPT TRANSFERS LOYALTY FROM THE USSR TO THE US IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COLD WAR

June 10, 2010 by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe

The Soviets began a thrust in midyear 1970 that deepened their military involvement in Egypt. According to Rodman, they did this by “flying combat air patrols over the Suez Canal and manning the missile batteries against Israeli planes” in the Egyptian-Israeli War of Attrition.

The United States, in turn, augmented its arms sales to Israel, convincing Egypt’s new president, Anwar Sadat, that America held all the cards and was the only force that could possibly influence prospects for peace in the Middle East.

Gartoff says that the ensuing disillusionment with his Soviet backers over the provision of advanced weapons, as well as the perceived inadequacy of Moscow’s diplomatic and military support, led Sadat to expel “the approximately 20,000 Soviet military advisers and technicians in Egypt, as well as the Soviet reconnaissance aircraft based there, and [he] sharply curtailed any Soviet use of military facilities in his country ….

Sadat had decided that he could not rely on the Soviets to help him recover occupied Egyptian territory. Meanwhile, he prepared for a limited war with Israel as a means of reopening the occupation issue.

Like Cuba in 1959, Egypt transferred loyalty from one superpower to another in the midst of the Cold War conflict, and, gradually, the US replaced the Soviets as Egypt’s main military supplier.

As the US gained influence in Egypt and the Middle East, the superpower sought to exclude the Soviet Union from regional affairs, particularly from the evolving peace process.

Although Egypt’s shifting allegiances did not prevent — and may, in fact, have spurred — the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Sadat’s actions ultimately contributed to the successful negotiation of a peace agreement for the Middle East.

If you enjoyed this article about Egypt during the Cold War, you will want to look at some related posts. Just click on the links below.

COLD WAR LEGACY: EGYPT’S EMERGENCY LAW 162 OF 1958

CLIENT STATES? JUST HOW DEPENDENT IS THE ARAB WORLD ON THE UNITED STATES?

EGYPT, SUEZ, AND THE DYNAMICS OF SUPERPOWER INTERVENTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

COLD WAR ARGUMENT 2011: POLITICAL ORDER IN A CHANGING EGYPT!


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About Lisa Reynolds Wolfe

Widely published, Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Politics from New York University and a Master of Science in Policy Analysis and Public Management from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Areas of particular interest and expertise include Cold War Studies, sustainable development, heritage, and the environment.

Comments

  1. Lis says

    May 12, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    My question is: how does the alliance with the Soviet Union in the 1950s affect it today?

  2. Lisa Reynolds Wolfe says

    May 13, 2011 at 11:19 am

    During the period that Egypt was allied with the Soviet Union, the country became increasingly militarized. By 1970 when Sadat
    took office, Sadat and other Egyptian military leaders had become wary of the Soviet military’s increasing influence on national affairs.
    Still, the Soviets had bolstered the Egyptian military through technical support and arms supplies. When Sadat determined that he
    could no longer trust the Soviets, the Egyptian military was in a much stronger position than it had been in before the alliance began.
    Also, when Sadat turned to the US for arms and support, the military was further bolstered. Today, as we have seen, the military has
    been the determining factor in Egyptian politics. The military is also a pre-eminent player in Egypt’s economy.The military’s strength
    has its roots in the Soviet period. Given the problems that are now in the headlines — sectarian strife and criminal activity — we’ll have to
    wait and see if they can successfully handle Egypt’s transition.

  3. maria says

    November 17, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    hi, i just have one little question: how did the cuba missiles crisis affected the delegation of egypt and waht measures were taken and what measures can be taken, also a little question had egypt made proposals about how to resolve the problem ?

  4. vallance says

    December 3, 2011 at 3:18 am

    how did the collapse of the USSR contibuted to egypt re-imagining itself in the 1990’s

  5. kylie says

    April 19, 2013 at 2:28 pm

    the collapse of the ussr (russia) contibuted to egype re imagining itself if the 1990’s is by having them leaving russia and joining america; so basically they ditched russia and became friends with us (america)

  6. Santiago Gonzalez says

    February 11, 2016 at 11:31 am

    Why did Egypt choose non-alignment during the Cold War?

  7. Lisa Reynolds Wolfe says

    February 11, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    Any takers?

  8. Kylie says

    May 5, 2016 at 2:43 pm

    What did outside countries see in Egypt during this time

  9. Sami Faltas says

    October 27, 2016 at 8:07 am

    *Santiago Gonzalez

    An official policy of non-alignment was attractive to Nasser’s government in several ways. It enhanced Nasser’s standing as one of the most influential nationalist leaders of former colonies and neutral states, along with Ghana’s Nkrumah, India’s Nehru, Indonesia’s Sukarno and Yugoslavia’s Tito. They were were the informal leaders of the Movement of Non-Aligned States, a group that lost its significance when the Cold War ended.

    At the same time, Nasser for many years played the two superpowers off against each other, and this would not have been possible if he had aligned himself with one against the other. In 1956, the United States came to the rescue of Egypt when it had been invaded by Israel, France and the United States. Of course, Nasser pretended that Egypt had liberated itself. However, in 1956, the US also withdrew its support for the construction of the new Aswan Dam. Later the USSR was to fund it, and Egypt was to become heavily dependent on the Soviet Union until President Sadat in 1970 switched allegiance to the United States.

    So Egypt at first preferred a non-aligned status, but later became heavily indebted to, and dependent on, one superpower and then the other.

Trackbacks

  1. COLD WAR LEGACY: EGYPT’S EMERGENCY LAW 162 OF 1958 says:
    February 1, 2011 at 11:51 am

    […] November 7, 1973: President Sadat and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger meet for the first time. Sadat tells Kissinger that he is ready to end Egypt’s conflict with Israel. Learn more about Sadat and the US in our previous post Egypt Transfers Loyalty From the USSR to the US in the Middle of the Cold War. […]

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A Cold War historian, Lisa holds a Ph.D. in Politics from New York University and a MS in Policy Analysis and Public Management from SUNY Stony Brook.

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