ABSTRACT
Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Muslim militants who opposed his backing of the exiled shah of Iran and Egypt’s 1979 peace with Israel. In the opinion of the militants, the treaty with Israel freed the Israeli government from the fear of Egyptian reprisals, allowing it to bomb guerrillas (and civilians) in Lebanon, conduct an air strike against an Iraqi nuclear reactor, increase Jewish settlements on the West Bank, and continue to oppress the Palestinians. Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak, held power from Sadat’s death until mass demonstrations forced him to resign on February 11, 2011. Under Mubarak, Egypt relied greatly on weapons and support from the United States. In turn, in the wake of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Egypt supported the US-led coalition of forces to protect Saudi Arabia and liberate Kuwait. Yet Egypt under Mubarak also resumed ties with other Arab countries that had attenuated under Sadat, and it did not progress toward the complete peace with Israel that Sadat had envisioned. Egyptians can identify themselves at various times as Egyptians, Arabs, or Muslims. Egypt’s Arab identity is reviving, fueled in part by resentment against Israel for its repression of the Palestinians and (as Egyptians see it) its manipulation of US foreign policy. But Egypt’s Islamic sentiment also increased following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, enhancing the appeal of Islamic revolutionary groups among the Egyptian population. Deteriorating economic and social conditions also increased the attraction of Islamist groups, as did the coerciveness of the United States in Iraq and elsewhere and the US backing of Israel against the Palestinians. Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. concludes this chapter with summaries of the rise of opposition to Mubarak’s rule and his downfall, along with the sometimes turbulent transition to a new democracy in which a candidate with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood has won the presidency in free elections.
