CHICAGO: The authors of a new book on how the US helped stabilize Egypt through “soft power” argue that the strategy could have helped avoid much of today’s regional conflict.
In an interview with Arab News, two of the three authors of “A Daring Enterprise: A US-Egyptian Partnership and the Case for Soft Power,” said Egypt represented one of the most successful American foreign aid programs in decades.
The book explores how the US created the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund and injected $300 million into the Arab country, helping steer it back to economic stability.
“Right now, US engagement in the Middle East is once again defined by military and ‘hard power,’ and America’s role in the region is defined by conflict. Our model of non-military ‘soft power’ offers one rooted in investment,” said Cornelius Queen, senior vice president at the fund, which was established by the US Congress in 2011 to support Egypt’s private sector after the Arab Spring.
“Investment is much more effective than military intervention and results in long-term stability, which is why we’re stuck in the morass of the Strait of Hormuz today.
“Strategic investment can create more durable partnerships, which helps to achieve the long-term objectives of the US in the Middle East, which is long-term security. Why not create local partnerships?”
Queen said the 18 days of protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square forced an end to the 30-year reign of President Hosni Mubarak but threw Egypt into years of economic turmoil, freezing tourism and international investment and fueling a rise in violence and extremist groups.
The economy spiraled into crisis and uncertainty as Egypt’s currency lost more than 80 percent of its value, with fears growing for the nation’s future.
“At a time when foreign assistance has been dramatically scaled back and even vilified, as evidenced by the dismantlement of USAID, I believe that smart foreign investment is key to America’s future prosperity,” Queen said.
“What we’ve demonstrated in the book is that you can do development, you can invest in other countries, and it’s not charity, because you can create returns for the taxpayer, and you can do that by supporting locally led private-sector development.
“That was a win-win, not only for the US but also for local countries, because it helped support their private sectors, create jobs and attract foreign capital.
“This model, based on our experience in Egypt, deserves serious consideration by policymakers moving forward as something to scale up as the future of US foreign policy.”
Queen co-authored the book with journalist Mark Warren and James Harmon, former chairman, president and CEO of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, appointed by former President Bill Clinton.
Harmon said the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund can be replicated in other Middle Eastern nations facing similar internal turmoil.
“We’d like to see more enterprise funds built, and the US use it as part of its long-term foreign policy,” he told Arab News.
“Using enterprise funds the way we did can help in a lot of different parts of the world. I’d personally not be unhappy if more countries decided to use enterprise funds as a way to build their relationships.”
Queen said: “Investing in and supporting local businesses with access to capital in a market where very few businesses can actually get bank loans is important to economic growth because it allows companies to grow, it allows them to hire more people, and ultimately attract foreign investment from international investors.
“If you can give someone a job who doesn’t have a job, I think that helps lessen the likelihood of political unrest.
“I know extremism is often driven by ideological reasons. Oftentimes, people are encouraged to move toward extremism because they’ve lost trust in their government, and they don’t feel like they’ve been given the right opportunities they feel owed.
“I think having a job and being able to put food on the table are critical for any country’s security.”
Queen and Harmon said they needed to tell the story of the fund as turmoil spreads worldwide.
Queen said: “What we did was an innovative private sector-led approach to help facilitate the democratic transitions in the former Soviet countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
“And in 2011, during the Arab Spring, the Obama administration saw an analogous situation to what had happened in the 1990s, so they reintroduced the enterprise fund concept for Tunisia and Egypt specifically. There was one authorized for Jordan, but unfortunately it never got off the ground.”
