\n
\n\tCHICAGO: The authors of a new book on how the US helped stabilize Egypt through \u201csoft power\u201d argue that the strategy could have helped avoid much of today\u2019s regional conflict.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn an interview with Arab News, two of the three authors of \u201cA Daring Enterprise:\u00a0A US-Egyptian Partnership and the Case for Soft Power,\u201d said Egypt represented one of the most successful American foreign aid programs in decades.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe book explores how the US created the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund and\u00a0injected $300 million into the Arab country,\u00a0helping steer it back to economic stability.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cRight now, US engagement\u00a0in the Middle East\u00a0is\u00a0once again\u00a0defined by military and \u2018hard power,\u2019 and America\u2019s role in the region is defined by conflict.\u00a0Our model of non-military \u2018soft power\u2019 offers one rooted in investment,\u201d said Cornelius Queen,\u00a0senior vice president at the fund, which was established by the US Congress in 2011 to support Egypt\u2019s private sector\u00a0after the Arab Spring.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cInvestment is much more effective than military intervention and results in long-term stability, which is why we\u2019re stuck in the morass of the Strait of Hormuz today.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cStrategic\u00a0investment\u00a0can 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tQueen said the 18 days of protests in Cairo\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe economy spiraled into crisis and uncertainty as Egypt\u2019s currency lost more than 80 percent of its value, with fears growing for the nation\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAt 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\u2019s future prosperity,\u201d Queen said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhat we\u2019ve demonstrated in the book is that you can do development, you can invest in other countries, and it\u2019s not charity, because you can create returns for the taxpayer, and you can do that by supporting locally led private-sector development.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat 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.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tQueen co-authored the book with journalist Mark Warren and James Harmon, former chairman, president and CEO of the\u00a0Export-Import Bank of the United States, appointed by former President Bill\u00a0Clinton.<\/p>\n
\n\tHarmon said the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund can be replicated in other Middle Eastern nations facing similar internal turmoil.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019d like to see more enterprise funds built, and the US use it as part of its long-term foreign policy,\u201d he told Arab News.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cUsing enterprise funds the way we did can help in a lot of different parts of the world. I\u2019d personally not be unhappy if more countries decided to use enterprise funds as a way to build their relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tQueen said:\u00a0\u201cInvesting 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.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you can give someone a job who doesn\u2019t have a job, I think that helps lessen the likelihood of political unrest.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI know extremism is often driven by ideological reasons. Oftentimes, people are encouraged to move toward extremism because they\u2019ve lost trust in their government, and they don\u2019t feel like they\u2019ve been given the right opportunities they feel owed.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think having a job and being able to put food on the table are critical for any country\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tQueen and Harmon said they needed to tell the story of the fund as turmoil spreads worldwide.<\/p>\n
\n\tQueen said: \u201cWhat 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.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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