HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023479.jpg
2.55 MB
Extraction Summary
3
People
3
Organizations
4
Locations
2
Events
1
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Policy analysis / academic paper / book chapter (evidence file)
File Size:
2.55 MB
Summary
This document appears to be page 22 of a larger academic or policy paper stamped with a House Oversight Bates number. The text critiques U.S. foreign aid policy in Egypt, arguing that it suffered from 'policy incoherence' where aid programs for education and economic reform operated independently of political stability goals. It references the administrations of Rice and Obama, the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and the 2006 Hamas victory in Gaza.
People (3)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Condeleezza Rice | Former U.S. Official |
Mentioned as giving brave speeches on democracy in Cairo.
|
| Barack Obama | Former U.S. President |
Mentioned as giving brave speeches on democracy in Cairo.
|
| Hosni Mubarak | Former President of Egypt |
Mentioned in the context of U.S. aid potentially delegitimizing him.
|
Organizations (3)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| United States / Washington |
Government entity providing foreign aid.
|
|
| Hamas |
Political group mentioned regarding 2006 electoral victory.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Source of the document (indicated by footer stamp).
|
Timeline (2 events)
Locations (4)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Primary subject of the policy analysis.
|
|
|
Metonym for U.S. Government.
|
|
|
Location of speeches by Rice and Obama.
|
|
|
Location of 2006 Hamas victory.
|
Relationships (1)
Egypt ranks as one of the top American aid recipients
Key Quotes (4)
"Egypt itself presents a good case of this particular form of policy incoherence."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023479.jpg
Quote #1
"The United States was primarily interested in stability."Source
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Quote #2
"Instead, it was simply an example of compartmentalized aid programs doing their thing in ignorance of the interdependent effects of politics and economics."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023479.jpg
Quote #3
"Ideas precede action."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023479.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (1,951 characters)
22
democracy promotion community wouldn’t stand in the way of
progress on HIV/AIDS or malaria. Yet no one takes a larger view and
asks, for example, whether existing aid programs are helping to keep
the regime in power or, conversely, are destabilizing it.
Egypt itself presents a good case of this particular form of policy
incoherence. Despite the fact that Egypt ranks as one of the top
American aid recipients, it is hard to say that Washington was
pursuing development goals of any sort there. The United States was
primarily interested in stability. Despite brave speeches on democracy
by both Condeleezza Rice and Barack Obama in Cairo, the United
States actually pulled its punches in pushing serious democratic
reform on Egypt, particularly after the Hamas electoral victory in
Gaza in 2006. Nonetheless, U.S. economic aid programs were still
pushing education and economic policy reform programs in the
country. Had American aid administrators taken the Huntingtonian
view that their assistance was covertly designed to promote an
expectations gap and delegitimate Hosni Mubarak, this might have
been a clever strategy. But no such cleverness existed. Instead, it was
simply an example of compartmentalized aid programs doing their
thing in ignorance of the interdependent effects of politics and
economics.
What Is to Be Done?
Ideas precede action. Before we can hope to generate a coherent set
of policies for Egypt, or anywhere else for that matter, we need a
better understanding of development—that is, how changes in
economy, politics and society over time constitute a set of discrete yet
interlinked processes. Whatever the shortcomings of classic
modernization theory, it at least began from the insight that the
phenomenon under study required development of a master social
science that transcended existing disciplinary boundaries. This
objective is as far away as ever in academia, where the traditional
progress on HIV/AIDS or malaria. Yet no one takes a larger view and
asks, for example, whether existing aid programs are helping to keep
the regime in power or, conversely, are destabilizing it.
Egypt itself presents a good case of this particular form of policy
incoherence. Despite the fact that Egypt ranks as one of the top
American aid recipients, it is hard to say that Washington was
pursuing development goals of any sort there. The United States was
primarily interested in stability. Despite brave speeches on democracy
by both Condeleezza Rice and Barack Obama in Cairo, the United
States actually pulled its punches in pushing serious democratic
reform on Egypt, particularly after the Hamas electoral victory in
Gaza in 2006. Nonetheless, U.S. economic aid programs were still
pushing education and economic policy reform programs in the
country. Had American aid administrators taken the Huntingtonian
view that their assistance was covertly designed to promote an
expectations gap and delegitimate Hosni Mubarak, this might have
been a clever strategy. But no such cleverness existed. Instead, it was
simply an example of compartmentalized aid programs doing their
thing in ignorance of the interdependent effects of politics and
economics.
What Is to Be Done?
Ideas precede action. Before we can hope to generate a coherent set
of policies for Egypt, or anywhere else for that matter, we need a
better understanding of development—that is, how changes in
economy, politics and society over time constitute a set of discrete yet
interlinked processes. Whatever the shortcomings of classic
modernization theory, it at least began from the insight that the
phenomenon under study required development of a master social
science that transcended existing disciplinary boundaries. This
objective is as far away as ever in academia, where the traditional
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023479
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