In 2015, Egypt joined in the fight against ISIS.
Most recently, the Egyptian military managed to prevent an ISIS suicide bomber from blowing
up a military outpost in Cairo.
With this new force in the mix, we wanted to know: just how powerful is Egypt?
Well, Egypt is relatively large with an even larger population.
Spanning across both Asia and Africa, the nearly 400,000 square mile country hosts roughly
86 million people.
This makes them the most populated nation in the Arabic-speaking world, and the 16th
most populous overall.
Egypt is particularly famous for being one of the world’s oldest nation states, having
been settled as far back as 5000 BC.
Some have called the area the “Cradle of Civilization” and attribute the birth of
literacy, religion, agriculture, and government to Egypt and surrounding regions.
They also have one of the largest economies in the Middle East, with a GDP of about $286
billion, ranking 38th worldwide.
Unlike most Middle Eastern economies which primarily make money from crude oil, Egypt
has successfully diversified into tourism, agriculture, and new media.
Additionally, they have been the second largest recipients of US foreign aid, after Israel.
Egypt is also home to a number of world famous sites, like the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid
of Giza.
As a result, their strongest economic sector is tourism, employing as much as 12% of the
workforce.
They are also the largest oil producing nation in Africa outside of OPEC, and trade energy
in coal, natural gas, and hydroelectric power.
With a high population and economy, Egypt has also one of the largest militaries in
the world.
With 1 and a quarter million troops, and 4 and a half billion dollars spent on defense,
they rank 18th globally.
This became particularly relevant during the Arab Spring, when the head of the Egyptian
Army orchestrated a coup d’état against the elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
Effectively, the Egyptian military became so powerful that it could not be controlled
by it’s own executive branch.
For many years, Egypt’s military was supported financially and technologically by the United
States, as a diplomatic ally in the Middle East.
But with the repeated change of Egyptian leadership in the last few years, the US temporarily
froze aid payments from 2013 to 2015.
With the largest population, military, and economy stretching across two continents,
it is clear that Egypt is the most powerful country in the Middle East region.
However, the volatile nature of their government, coupled with repeat implementation of restrictive
martial law and censorship, could lead to severe instability within the country.
Still, as a force against the spread of ISIS, they’re likely the Middle East’s best
shot at defeating the Islamic State.
If you want to know more about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the subsequent
election and deposition of President Morsi, check out this timeline.
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