ABSTRACT

The chapter discusses three central issues that affect the direction of its foreign policy the NSR’s during the period between the instigation of the military coup in 1989 and the fragmentation of the NIF in 1999. The complications prompted by these issues were due to ideological policies implemented by the NSR during this period. The chapter examines the three interrelated issues of human rights, terrorism and the civil war, which were directly affected by the regime aggressive religious character and led to irretrievably negative outcomes. It looks at the changes in the NSR’s attitude that were directly related to the core of these issues as they formed a considerable force against the NSR. The government’s handling of these concerns internally and externally established a constant negative response in the international forums. The pragmatic transformation of the NSR’s policies following the assassination attempt on President Mubarak in June 1995 was intended to address radical practices.