On June 15, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi announced he was cutting diplomatic ties with Syria and backed the creation of a no-fly zone over the country. In an email interview, Eric Trager, Next Generation fellow and an expert on Egyptian politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained how Syria’s war has affected Egypt and Morsi’s influence on the broader region.
WPR: How are the effects of the Syrian war being felt in Egypt?
Eric Trager: The effects of the Syrian war are being felt in three ways in Egypt. First, in the past few weeks, President Mohammed Morsi has attempted to use his support for the Syrian uprising to bolster his domestic political standing as he faces mass protests. He thus addressed a 20,000-person audience in Cairo a few weeks ago, using a speech that was largely about Syria to also denounce his domestic opponents.