ABSTRACT
A resurgent Egyptian nationalism and overall decline in United States (US) standing in the Middle East account in large part for the erosion of public approval of US aid activities in Egypt. Egyptian officials were annoyed that the US administration seemed to ignore the fact that Egypt, almost alone in the region, had unequivocally backed Reagan's September 1982 peace initiative. If the attitudes of most Egyptians have become, at best, ambivalent toward the US, the change is in no small way also related to the popular impression that US aid has done little to improve the life of the average person. Even Egyptians studying in the US were alleged to be denied technological information that could be obtained by Israeli students. The challenge for AID, at least until the early 1980s, was to be able to convey the impression of serving as economic benefactor without taking from the Egyptian government credit for any progress.
