Meeting with Amr Moussa on the occasion of the release of his book “Kitabiah” and of current developments in the region and the world

On 16^th of January 2018, the Council welcomed Mr. Amr Moussa, former Foreign Minister and former Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, to meet with the members of the Council and to highlight several important points in his new book, Ketabiah, and to shed light on many current developments in the region and the world. It was attended by the Chair of the council; Ambassador, Dr. Mounir Zahranas well as Ambassador Dr.Ezzat Saad, the Executive Director and many other board members of the council, Ambassadors, specialists, academics and businessmen.

 Mr. Amr Moussa stressed that the purpose of writing his memoirs is to review dates and issues, in light of the persistent attempts by certain forces to push Egyptian history towards trends that serve particular interests and avoid dealing with important and dangerous developments in modern Egyptian history. By discussing what happened in May 1967, its causes and the motives of decisions and the reasons for the unfortunate defeat in the 1967 war in order to avoid repeating them.

Furthermore addressing the causes and events does not mean to diminish the extent of one of the shedding light on an important stage in Egyptian history, especially as Egypt as a developing country, how did it bear the entry into two wars in 3-4 years (meaning the military involvement in Yemen and the war with Israel) Egypt bears the consequences of those wars, and whether there was an estimate of the Egyptian military efficiency at that time.

He pointed out that these questions will be asked sooner or later, especially as they represent a serious of negative signs in the Egyptian history, and a negative turning point that led to subsequent developments, leading to the revolution of January 25, 2011, confirming that he was supporter of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser until 5 June 1967, and witnessed the date of conflicting reports that included the confirmation by the Egyptian radio to drop Israeli fighter jets, while foreign newspapers and news agencies broadcasted the success of Israeli forces approaching the Suez Canal – which proved to be right later.

 He also stressed that his book dealt with the impact of regional issues on the course of Egyptian diplomacy, especially the Palestinian cause, which was the first priority in Egyptian foreign policy, and the Egyptian interest and Gamal Abdel Nasser’s interest in it to occupy a distinguished position in the world. Egyptian diplomacy, which opened the door to the rivalry of all Arab and regional diplomats as well as developing countries, and to occupy a prominent position in the agendas of these countries.  

He stressed on the point, that the Middle Eastern region is experiencing a vacuum similar to the vacuum of the fifties caused by the withdrawal of colonial powers from Africa; This vacuum is trying to force Iran, Turkey and Israel to fill it, which is needed to move the Arab forces led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to confront those forces, calling for work to re-discuss the previous presentation at the Arab Summit in 2010 in Sirte, Libya of the first two initiatives is “Arab Neighbourhood League” 40 to 45 countries from the Sahelo-Saharan States, the Horn of Africa, the Mediterranean countries, the three Asian countries, Turkey, Iran and Israel, and the suspension of Israel’s domination of the Palestinian issue and the opening of dialogue with Iran on the outstanding issues.

These are related to their environment any association expanded to include 22 to 24 countries. The other initiative is based on the establishment of a Middle East Security and Cooperation Organization to deal with the issues of security, terrorism and development, which will initially include 5-6 countries and then expand it to other countries including the Maghreb, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Gulf and the Arab heart. He stressed that there are many centers talking about the need for a new regional system in the Middle East, and Ethiopia must be included in such a system, to be part of it and to develop its visions and priorities.