The role of the international monetary fund in American foreign economic policy toward Egypt, 1985--1998

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the change in the place of the IMF in American foreign economic policy toward Egypt between 1985 and 1998. It was found that the United States intervened in the IMF-Egyptian negotiations of the 1987 and 1991 agreements, but did not intervene in negotiations of the 1993 and 1996 agreements. The results of US intervention were two lenient agreements. The United States intervened in the 1987 and 1991 negotiations seeking lenient agreements that would ensure that Egypt made some attempts toward economic liberalization while preserving the political stability of the pro-Western Egyptian regime in a turbulent region. In 1993, the United States sought to further advance economic liberalization in Egypt but preferred to do so through bilateral mechanisms where private investment played an important role. The advantages of this privatized bilateral approach were to help advance the US' economic position, keep allies dependent on the United States and allow for a decrease in official foreign aid. The reason for this shift in orientation and instrumentation of the US' foreign economic policy was the change in the United States' perceived threat to its strategic objectives in the Middle East. The United States no longer needed to hide behind the IMF to advance its foreign policy objectives in Egypt, because its hegemonic status strengthened in the post-Cold War and post-Persian Gulf war era. The United States wanted to keep its ally close through strengthening bilateral economic relations and did not intervene in the latter IMF agreements.