ABSTRACT
Following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, analyses of political change in Egypt have primarily focused on domestic processes and paid relatively less attention to the influence of changes in the country’s foreign policy. The circular character of the recent Egyptian political transformation process enables strategic shifts to be observed and the scope of foreign policy change – and continuity – to be assessed. This article addresses the evolution and the adaptive moves made by Egyptian foreign policy towards the Arab region between 2011 and 2016, paying special attention to the relations between post-Mubarak Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have traditionally maintained a mutual interest bilateral relationship in which Egypt’s economic dependence and shared security concerns – the stability of the Gulf and Middle East countries, the containment of Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah – have led them to act pragmatically and overcome disagreements. In keeping with a framework of foreign policy analysis that distinguishes between foreign policy determinants, decision-making and behaviour, the article will first examine how the domestic political transformations witnessed since 2011 have affected Egypt’s foreign policy. A more in-depth case study will then focus on the sub-regional level of analysis with the specific aim of explaining the strengthening of relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2016.
