Mohamed Elmenshawy

Mohamed Elmenshawy is a scholar, and the director of the languages and regional studies program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. He writes a weekly column for Egyptian daily Al Shorouk News.

In August 2009, he was selected to join the U.N. Secretary General's High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, as part of its Rapid Response Media Mechanism. He is a regular commentator on international politics in major international and Arabic television and radio networks. Recent appearances include Al Jazeera TV, CNN International and C-Span TV.

His writing regularly appears on Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor a and International Heralded Tribune and others.

He served as the editor in chief of Arab Insight, a journal communicating Arab perspectives on the Middle East issues to American audiences. Also he was the founding editor of Taqrir Washington that provides Arab-speaking audiences an understanding of American politics and the factors that shape the decisions behind American policies.

Education
B.A. in Political Science at Cairo University; M.A. in International Relations and Middle Eastern Politics at University of Akron; MBA in International Strategy at American University

Languages
Arabic

Countries of Expertise
Egypt

Issues of Expertise
Arab Media, Foreign Policy, Political Islam

Contact: melmenshawy@mei.edu

Publications

Opinion // May 07, 2013

Debunking Five Myths of Washington’s Leverage in Egypt

Last week’s visit by US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to Cairo came amid several discussions in Washington and Cairo about US leverage in Egyptian politics since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011. Most of these discussions overestimate US influence. Indeed, last month’s proposed amendments from both Republican and Democratic senators aiming to attach conditions to military assistance to Egypt reveal an old-fashioned and overconfident understanding of Washington’s sway.

US Foreign Policy, Arab Awakening, Foreign Relations, Egypt
Opinion // Apr 25, 2013

The Predicament of the Obama Administration and the Muslim Brotherhood

Al-Ahram columnist Ahmed al-Beri wrote on 23 March that “while the United States has often been supportive of President Mohamed Morsi’s regime, Egypt’s security and economic deterioration may be forcing it to reevaluate this support.” Such thoughts are not exclusively al-Beri’s; they are dominating intellectual circles inside Egypt. The emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood as the new political warhorse in Egypt has complicated a delicate strategic relationship between Cairo and Washington.

US Foreign Policy, Foreign Relations, Democratization, Egypt
Opinion // Mar 20, 2013

Sectarianizing Foreign Policy In Egypt

Egypt
Opinion // Feb 13, 2013

Time to Revisit Washington's Relations With Egypt

Egyptian and American officials held a joint ceremony in Cairo on Feb. 3, 2013, to mark the delivery of four new F-16 aircrafts to the Egyptian Air Force. The U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, marked the development by saying: "We look to Egypt to continue to serve as a force for peace, security, and leadership as the Middle East proceeds with its challenging yet essential journey toward democracy."

Political Islam, US Foreign Policy, Arab Awakening, Foreign Relations, Egypt

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Mohamed Elmenshawy

Debunking Five Myths of Washington’s Leverage in Egypt

The Predicament of the Obama Administration and the Muslim Brotherhood

Sectarianizing Foreign Policy In Egypt

Time to Revisit Washington's Relations With Egypt

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