ABSTRACT
The state will never voluntarily surrender its powers of control over the economy, for its political authority ultimately rests on that control, it will seek to exploit economic assistance and multinational corporation (MNC) participation in Egypt in order to bolster its position, rather than to transform the political economy. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the largest development assistance agency operating in Egypt, embodies in microcosm deficiencies that plague most organizations utilizing economic assistance for policy leverage. The Egyptian government has exploited USAID's vulnerability to negative public relations by tolerating and maybe even fostering exposes. The amount of assistance that reaches Egyptian businessmen is actually even less than the relatively limited funds allocated to the private sector, for United States-based companies active in Egypt also have access through partners in joint ventures to such assistance. MNCs have yet to subordinate the Egyptian political economy to their will and integrate it into the world capitalist order on unfavorable terms.
